Yui's Journey
by Corrector9Yui
Summary: Yui, the daughter of the Regional Champion Lance, wants to become a Pokemon champion too! She, Morty and Teal are almost halfway to the championships now... Chapter 14 coming soon!
1. Vacation in Ecruteak City

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**_Pokemon – The Tokko Adventures_**

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**_Episode 1 – Vacation in _****_Ecruteak_********_City_****__**

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                The phone was ringing way too early for a Saturday morning. Yui picked up the receiver and, lying back down on her pillow, mumbled, "Hello?" 

                "Good morning, Yui!"

                She sighed deeply, her head sinking down. "Koji… it's seven in the morning. Why are you calling me?"

                "I wanted to make sure you were awake," Yui's brother replied smartly. 

                "Well, I wasn't," Yui said. "Now… is there something else you want, or can I go now?"

                "Yui, Yui, Yui…" Koji said disappointedly. "Don't you remember what you said you were gonna do today?"

                She thought for a minute, her eyes blinking rapidly with exhaustion. "No…"

                "You said you'd come over and see me!" Koji said. "I cannot believe you forgot…" 

                Yui's eyes widened a little. "That was today?" she asked loudly. The little green Pokemon that was sleeping on the other end of the bed awoke quickly, looking around the room for what was making her trainer yell. "Chikorita, go back to sleep," Yui whispered. Then, she got back to her conversation; "Well, did you have to call me so early?"

                "Yup," Koji said. His sister sighed, getting ready to hang up the phone. 

                "Listen, call me later," she said, annoyed. "I'll get ready and come over, just… let me sleep."

                She hung up. Koji stared at his receiver and, puzzled, put it down. 

                Later on that day, Yui packed a bag for herself with all the stuff she'd need to spend at least a week at Koji's; clothes, manga books, a sketch pad… all of her favorite things to do, just in case her brother got on her nerves. She had changed into one of her favorite outfits; a black tank top and a light purple mini-skirt. Chikorita bounced around her releasing a sweet scent, excited about leaving home for a change. Yui smiled softly at her pet.               

                "Now, it's just the matter of getting there," she mumbled to herself as she threw in one more pair of socks and zipped up her fluorescent pink pack. "Ecruteak's kind of far to walk…"

                "What'cha up to?" asked a voice from the doorway. Yui looked up to see a man with warm red hair, like her own. 

                "Hi, Dad," she said excitedly. "I'm getting ready to go and visit Koji." 

                "Oh… that was today, wasn't it?" he said. "Well, if you want a ride…"

                "Would you really?" Yui asked, jumping to her feet. "You never let anyone…" 

                "You're my daughter, Yui," said Lance. "Family gets special permission." 

                "Thanks so much!" Yui said, picking up her backpack. "Are you ready to go?"

                Minutes later, Lance landed his Dragonite in front of Koji's house in the north parts of Ecruteak City. Yui climbed off, clutching her backpack tightly and helping a very shaken Chikorita down. 

                "That was so fun," she said. "Thanks again, Dad." 

                "Just call me when you want me to pick you up," Lance told her, repositioning himself on the giant dragon's back. 

                "I will!" Yui called as Lance took off into the wild blue. "Come on, Chikorita, are you ready to go see Koji?"

                "Chiko…" she said, less than impressed. Chikorita didn't like Koji all that much and, due to the rude awakening, she was even edgier than usual…

                "Aww, Chikorita," Yui said. "Don't worry; I'll keep him far away from your leaf this time."

                "Rita."

                Holding Chikorita in her arms, Yui kicked open her brother's door and bounded in. "Are you even home?" she called, letting Chikorita down to walk on its own. "Koji?"

                "In here," he said from the next room. As usual, he was in front of his computer, probably chatting with some girl. 

                "Well," Yui said, holding her hands on her hips. "You invite me over, and decide to chat with your girlfriend all day? How very considerate."

                Koji sighed, clicking down the tiny windows on his screen. "All right, I'll stop," he said, turning off his screen. "Well, hello Chikorita."

                "Chiko!" she scowled, preparing her leaf for attack. Koji just grinned and patted her head. "Ya know, you really should start training this Chikorita, Yui," he said. "It's still mean to me."

                "Well, what do you expect; you tried to take off her leaf!" Yui snapped, picking up her Pokemon and sitting down on the couch. "Of course you'd expect her not to like you."

                "That was… a long time ago, Chiko!" Koji said. "Can't you forgive me?"

                "Chiko." It said bluntly, meaning "Not on your life." 

                Koji frowned. "Fine," he said. "So Yui… still into my gym leader friend?"

                Yui blushed, hanging her head a little bit. "You shut up," she said. "And what do you mean by friend?"

                "Oh, I talk to Morty all the time," Koji bragged. "He's a good friend of mine here."

                "HE IS NOT!" Yui yelled, shooting up and knocking poor Chikorita onto the floor. "A guy like him would never ever want to speak to someone like… like my brother!"

                "Want me to prove it?" Koji said. "I'll call him; he can come over and meet his stalker…"

                "Don't call him over here!" she screeched. "And I am NOT his stalker! I just happen to like him! Koji, don't call him!"

                "Too late," her brother smirked as the phone dialed the number. Yui could hear a deep male voice on the other line… and from all of her taped Ecruteak Gym battles, she knew exactly whose it was…

                "Hey, Morty! …Duh, Koji! Listen, I need you over here… I know, but someone really wants to meet you… you will? Great! See you soon!" And he hung up. 

                "You are so cruel," Yui said. "Do you have a closet where I could hide?"

                "Not a clean one," Koji said. "Come on, Morty's your dream guy! Why are you so scared to meet him?"

                Yui stopped; Chikorita looked up at her with a confused face. "Because… I love him," Yui said, "and I don't even know him."

                "Aww," Koji sighed. "Yui, you don't love him. You're hopelessly obsessed with a cute celebrity, like most girls your age. Get over it!"

                She frowned. "Whatever. I'll… try to speak to him."

                Suddenly, a knock at the door made Yui jump ten feet in the air. Koji smiled slyly at her, and went to answer the door. Minutes later, her brother returned to the room with… him. The actual living, breathing Morty Avalon. 

                "Well, this is certainly a surprise," he said while stepping up to Yui. "So, you're the one who wanted to meet me, huh?"                

                Yui stopped dead. "I… I…"

                "What's wrong?" Morty asked. "You seem a little bit… nervous."

                "Oh… It's nothing, I just… You're Morty!" she blurted. 

                Morty looked at her strangely. "Last time I checked, anyway," he joked. "What's your name?"

                "Y…y…Yui." She stopped there, not wanting to sound stupid any longer. 

                "Well, Yui, you seem to already know me pretty well," he said, sitting down next to her on the couch. Yui almost toppled over, her face blushing like crazy. She turned away from him a little bit to hide her flushed face. 

                "This could be fun, huh Chikorita?" Koji asked. "Hey, Chiko, wanna go for a little walk? Let these two get to know each other?"

                "N…" Yui almost protested, but Koji cut her off. "Let's go, Chikorita," he said, making his way out the front exit with Yui's Pokemon in tow. She smiled evilly and waved her leaf in Yui's direction. Morty just kind of sat there, looking incredibly confused. 

                Yui frowned. "Stupid Koji," she mumbled. 

                "Are you okay?" Morty asked. "Is there something wrong?"

                "No," Yui sighed. "It's just that my brother can get really annoying at times."

                "Yeah, siblings are like that," Morty said. "I have three… two older brothers and a twin sister. Now there's annoying."

                "Three? How did you live through your childhood?" 

                The two of them laughed out loud, and soon they got into a huge conversation, talking about anything and everything. Yui slowly became less nervous and more used to being around him; it was hard, since she had liked him for longer than she could remember, and had just met him now… but she grew into it. Soon, it felt like she had known him for a long time as they talked and laughed it up. 

                "So, is that Chikorita yours?" Morty asked out of nowhere. 

                "Yuh-huh," Yui said, still snorting with laughter. She sounded stupid, but she hardly cared. 

                "Do you train any other Pokemon other than her?" he asked. 

                Yui stopped laughing. "I'm not a trainer," she said. "I just keep Chikorita as a pet."

                "Seriously?" Morty said. "You should be a trainer! You're such a great and caring person; Pokemon would love to have you train them!"

                Yui blushed again. "Yeah right," she said. "I'm already sixteen. There's not much chance of me becoming a trainer now."

                "I can help you with that," Morty said. "I'm a Gym Leader… I have connections with the League. We could get you registered… say, today, if you wanted it." 

                "T…Today?" Yui stammered. "Well…"

                "If you don't want to, I'd understand," Morty said. "I mean, if you're sixteen already, there must be a reason why you haven't started training." 

                Yui stopped then. This was a very good point Morty was bringing up. Why hadn't she started her training yet? She was old enough, perfectly capable of traveling, and she had a great beginner's Pokemon. So why wasn't she out there?

                Oh yeah… She was the daughter of the Elite champion. Duh! She couldn't be caught out there training… if anyone found out, they could use that as their advantage to get inside of the Plateau. It was too much of a risk, Lance had said. 

                But then again, who would find her? Nobody knew who she was… she had been living in secret all her life…

                "It's not that I don't want to," she said. "I just… have to get permission from my dad first."            

                Morty smiled widely. "You're kidding."

                "No, really, Morty," she said. "You think you have League connections… I live at the Plateau. I'm Lance's daughter!"

                Morty blinked once. "I should have known that," he said stupidly. "I knew Koji was related to Lance…"

                "And you forgot?" Yui asked, smiling. Morty sweat-dropped and Yui fell over laughing, her head landing absently on his lap. He looked down at her, giggling her heart out, and laughed himself. When Yui finally stopped, she realized where she was lying and shot up, blushing furiously. 

                "I think I'm going to start training," she said. "You're right. I should be training Chikorita instead of keeping her confined as a pet forever. I'll call and ask my dad right now! You get Koji and Chikorita in here!"

                Yui dove for the phone, and Morty didn't protest against his orders. He walked outside as Yui dialed the number to Lance's phone line (each Elite trainer had their own phone line). 

                "Yes?" he questioned into his receiver. 

                "Hi, Dad!" Yui blared happily. He pulled the phone away from his ear and blinked. 

                "What's up? Do you want to come home already?" he asked. "Are you already annoyed with Koji?"

                "No, not at all!" she said. "Well… yes, I'm annoyed with him but when am I not?" 

                Lance laughed. "Go on. What is it?"

                "I want to start training!" she announced straightforwardly. "I actually want to be outside for a change instead of being locked in the Plateau all the time…"

                "Yui, we discussed this," Lance said, his tone changing from buddy-buddy to serious. "If anyone ever finds out whom you are… the Rockets, for example…"

                "How will they find out?" she asked as her brother, Morty and Chikorita came back into the room. "Nobody has ever seen me. Whenever you battle, I'm on the sidelines. I've never been on TV. They wouldn't find me out unless I told them."

                "You have been seen on TV before with me," Lance said. "I'm very worried that someone will want to hurt you just to get to me. I don't want you endangered like that."

                "Nobody will know," she pleaded. "Please let me go. I really want this!" 

                There was a pause on the other line. Morty, Koji and Chikorita stared as Yui clutched the receiver, waiting for any response. Finally, Lance's voice came out. "Yui… I can tell this is really what you want. I'll have your Pokedex brought to you immediately."

                "REALLY?!?" Yui exclaimed. "Thank you, Dad!! Thank you so much!!" 

                "No problem," he said. "Stay there. I'll bring your Pokedex over now… Chikorita's not a problem since it's already registered to you."

                "Yay!! I love you, Dad! You're the best!" she said. "Bye!" 

                She hung up the phone, and ran to pick up Chikorita. "We're finally going training!" she said. 

                "Chiko!" it said as its eyes lit up. Yui hugged her and put her down on the couch, then threw herself into Morty's arms. 

                "Thank you for bringing this up," she said. "If it weren't for you, I never would have realized that this is what I really wanted to do."

                Morty looked down at her, astonished, his cheeks slowly reddening. "T..thanks," he said, hugging her back softly. "I'm glad to help… I guess." 

                "Oh, ignore her," Koji said. "She gets this way around guys she likes." 

                "I figured," Morty said, looking down at her with a blushing smile. "She's a great girl." 

                "Heh, just try being related to her," Koji said. "Or better yet, try sticking around her for a long time. That's really difficult. She gets really annoying."

                "Hey," Morty thought to himself, looking at Yui whom had gone back to dancing with Chikorita. "Not a bad idea." 

                Later on that day, Lance dropped by Koji's again with a couple of things for Yui; not that she didn't have enough already. He also brought her Pokedex and a few PokeBalls, and a belt for equipping her PokeBalls. The belt was black, so it would pretty much match with anything she decided to wear. She put Chikorita's PokeBall on the belt with all her empty ones, and held her Pokedex in her pack with all of her other things. In an instant, she was all ready to go. Now, it was just the matter of decided exactly where she would start training. 

                "You could just start here in Johto," Koji said. "It's not that difficult of a league. You might be able to get through it."

                "Koji, remember that it was difficult for you because you had started in Kanto before," Lance said. "Johto, in fact, is a very challenging league. It might be better off for Yui if she started in the Tokko league."

                "Where's that?" Yui asked. 

                "The Tokko league is just north of Johto,' said Lance. "In fact, Starlet Town, the beginning city of Tokko, is directly north of Ecruteak City. You can get there easily right now, it shouldn't take you more than a few hours. The Tokko League Gyms just opened up recently, so it's a fairly new league. It shouldn't be too challenging." 

                "All right then! It's off to Tokko for Yui!" she announced. "Is then anything else that I'll need?"

                "Just one more thing," Lance said. "Be very careful. I know I can trust you… I'm just worried, that's all."

                "I know," she said. "I will be careful. Bye, Dad." 

                She gave him a hug, and proceeded to hug Koji. "Bye," she said. "Thanks for being so close to Tokko," she added smartly. 

                "Yeah. No problem," he said sarcastically. They both laughed, and Yui looked up and around for the last person to say goodbye too. "Hey, where's Morty?" 

                "He left," Koji said. "Said there was something important to do." 

                "Oh…" Yui said, utterly disappointed. "Well… Next time you see him, tell him I said goodbye."

                "I will," Koji said. Then, he added jokingly, "Want me to kiss him for you too?"

                Yui's cheeks blushed. "I told you to leave me alone," she said. "I'd ever stand a chance with a great guy like Morty. Besides, he's my friend now and I doubt we'll ever be anything more." 

                Yui started walking then, looking back to wave every few seconds. There was a small path north of Ecruteak, behind the two towers. She took the path and began walking, planning to call her father as soon as she reached Starlet Town.

                "Luna… I have to ask you a really big favor," Morty said, sitting in the living room with his twin sister. She smiled, put down her cup of hot chocolate and stared him down. "What now?

                "I need you to… take the gym off my hands for a little while," he said. "You're just as capable a ghost trainer as me, so you can be the leader for a while."

                Luna's eyes lit up bright enough to blind an Onix. "Really?" she squeaked. "Great!! But.. Why?"

                "It's hard to explain," he said. "I think I may have found my ideal." 

                "That's great!" she said. "Mom and Dad said we'd be meeting our matches soon. Who is she?"

                "Koji's little sister," Morty said. "Her name's Yui." 

                "Yui… Oh, her! I've seen her at the Plateau and at some conventions with her dad," Luna said. "She's pretty."

                "You're not kidding," Morty said. "But I have to go. She's starting her training today and I have to catch her before it's too late." 

                "All right. I hope she really is who you think," Luna replied. "I'll see you later, Morty. Thanks again."

                "Yeah," he said. He ran, through a bunch of things together, and took off like a shot back to Koji's house. Lance and Yui were already both gone. 

                "Yo, Koji!" Morty called, knocking on the door. Koji strayed from his computer screen for a second to talk to his friend. "What, Morty? I'm… busy!" 

                "I see," Morty said slyly. "Chat rooms again?"

                "Shut up," Koji said, blushing profusely. "What do you want?"

                "Where's Yui? Did she leave?" 

                "Yeah," he said. "She went north to Tokko."        

                "Tokko, huh? Thanks, man," Morty said, quickly bolting toward the north end of town. Koji sighed, and went back to his computer screen. 

                Yui reached Starlet Town just as the sun was beginning to set. It was still fairly warm outside, and a couple of wild Pidgey flew past the darkening horizon. Yui sighed… it was really nice to be in a new, beautiful place like this. She looked around; there were not very many buildings. A couple of houses, a Pokemon Center… but the biggest of all was the Pokemon Lab. Yui came to the conclusion to stay at the Pokemon center for the night, and drop by the lab in the morning to find out where she had to go. So, ever so quietly, she slipped into the Pokemon center, making sure not to wake anyone who might be asleep. 

                "Hello?" Yui whispered. She was answered by a pink-haired nurse with her hair done up in two little rings. 

                "Hi, good evening!! What can I do for you?"

                "I'm going to start training in Tokko tomorrow," Yui said. "Would I be able to stay here for the night?"

                "Of course," said the lady, Joy, perkily. 

                "Thank you," said Yui. After quickly running to get changed into nightwear, she curled up on a small couch by the fireplace, and covered herself with a pink blanket that was sitting there. 

                "I sure hope I can do this," she thought, snuggling up against the backrest of the couch. And just as she was falling asleep, the door crashed open and somebody else ran inside. Yui looked up, ready to give whoever it was the bitching-out of a lifetime. 

                "Ah! Yui, you're here!" said Morty. Yui blushed, and almost sunk back down onto the couch, 

                "Morty? Why are you all the way in Tokko?" she questioned. "Aren't you a gym leader?"

                "Well… Yes," he said. "But my sister agreed to watch the gym. I want to come with you." 

                Yui blinked, and her cheeks went just as red as her hair. :W…why would you want to do that?"

                "Well," Morty said, sitting next to her, "to name just a few reasons, I want to make sure you're all right. I really like you. And, I need to get some training in myself… Please let me come?"

                "I'd love for you to come!" Yui blurted. "I mean… Of course, Morty." 

                He breathed a long sigh of relief. "Thanks," he said. "You don't know how much this means to me."

                "Believe me, it means a lot to me too," Yui said. "Now… I just want you to do one last thing for me."

                Morty blushed. "What's that?" he asked. 

                Yui smiled. "Move. I want to go to sleep." 

                "Oh…" Morty quickly sat up from the couch, watching as Yui sprawled herself across it. "Good night, then, my traveling companion."

                "Good night, mister drama-queen," she said, turning around to face the backrest. Morty sweatdropped and sat down on a huge armchair by the fire and fell asleep almost instantly. 

                **_To Be Continued…_**

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**_                Author's Notes: _****Hi!! Well, there it was, Episode 1!! I hope you liked it… I'm really going to try hard to go through with this story. I think it's going to be great! I hope you all bear with me… **


	2. Chikorita's Big Day

**_Pokemon – The Tokko Adventures_**

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**_Episode 2 - Chikorita's Big Day_**

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**_                Morty woke up a little before Yui that morning… she had a very bad habit to sleep in. During the night, her blanket had fallen off of the couch, and she lay uncovered in a silk pink nightgown, her bright flaming red hair curled all around her face. The fire had been put out, so nothing was blocking the rays of sunlight that blazed down on her face. Morty stared at her for a while, just thinking about how pretty she looked. He wanted to wake her up and tell her how he felt… but he thought that telling her so soon would scare her; or worse, make her hate him. He came to the conclusion to keep his mouth shut, and sat down to wait for Yui to wake up. _**

                Finally, at least a half-hour later, there was a sign of life from the small couch. Yui sat up and yawned loudly, then looked over at Morty with tired eyes. "Good morning…" she said slowly, almost like she didn't understand her own words. She pulled the skirt of her nightgown down as far as it went, and grabbed her backpack, heading towards the ladies room. "I'll be right back, Morty… Get the nurse to give Chikorita a check-up, would ya?" As she said this, she took Chikorita's PokeBall from the inside of her backpack and tossed it over to him. 

                "Um… Sure," Morty agreed, catching the awkwardly-aimed ball. He brought it up to the desk and handed it to Joy with a yawn. 

                Joy smiled at Morty and accepted the PokeBall. "Just a routine check-up? Right away," she said, placing the ball in an incubator-like machine. Red lasers scanned the ball, and seconds later a green light flashed from the side. "The Pokemon is in fine health!" 

                "Thanks," Morty said. Just then, Yui came out from the washroom, changed into a pair of blue jeans and a pretty pink shirt. Her hair was combed neatly back, and her backpack was slung over her shoulders. 

                "PokeBall, please, Morty," she said. As soon as she had the ball in hand, she tossed it down, revealing the little leaf Pokemon. It stretched its tiny body out a little, and jumped to its feet. "Chiko!" 

                "Ready to hit the road, Chikorita?" Yui asked, cracking her knuckles. 

                "Chikorita!!!" cried the little Pokemon, hopping around Yui's feet. Morty smiled, and shook his head to shake away the blush on his cheeks. 

                "Where are you headed off to first?" Morty asked. 

                "To the lab," Yui replied. "I'm hoping they can tell me a bit about Tokko before I go and get myself lost." 

                "Smart," Morty said. "Bye, nurse!" 

                "Good-bye!" she said, waving cheerily. "Good luck on your adventure!" 

                "So where is this lab, anyway?" Morty was asking. Yui was leading him around Starlet Town, and Chikorita was lagging behind, chasing a butterfly. 

                "This way! I saw in on the way in," Yui said. "Come on!" 

                As the two trainers walked around a corner and away, Chikorita was crazily following the butterfly in the other direction. It led her almost to the other end of the city before it finally flew off higher than Chikorita could reach. Chikorita swatted at it with her vines extended a little bit, but didn't bother for very long. Eventually, she just shrugged it off and turned around to finally realize that her trainer was nowhere to be found. 

                **_(*All the Poke-speech will now be magically dubbed into English. Thank you.)_**

                "Hey, where'd they go?" Chikorita questioned, looking around innocently. "Yui? Morty?"

                She looked up, down, and all around, but there was no sign of her trainers anywhere. "Yui? Where are you? Aren't we going to… the lab! That's it! That's where Yui is… now all I have to do is get there. But which way did I come from?" 

                "Hey, you there," said a tough-sounding female voice. "You look new in these parts." Chikorita glanced down an alleyway to see another Pokemon standing there; it was smaller than her, but a lot more wild-looking. It had a cream-white mane and a small body covered with light brown fur. 

                "I… I am," Chikorita said nervously. "My name's Chikorita Kinomoto, what's yours?"

                "Heh, just Eevee," said the stray. "I don't have a last name. Why do you?"  
                "Yui… Yui always says I'm part of the family," she said. The Eevee stared at her skeptically, and laughed. 

                "So, you have a trainer, huh?" Eevee said. "I never bothered with a trainer or a last name. And I'm just as powerful as I want to be."

                "But having a trainer is so much fun!" said Chikorita. "She plays with me, feeds me, and helps me learn new things…" 

                "You know," Eevee said slyly, "you don't necessarily have to be a trainer for all that fun stuff to happen. Want me to give you a little tour of Starlet and show you what I mean?"

                Chikorita looked up thoughtfully. "Well, OK," she said. "But I have to be back at the lab before Yui notices that I'm gone. Otherwise I'll be in big trouble." 

                Eevee sighed. "That's another thing about being independent like me," she said. "You don't get in trouble." 

                Meanwhile, at the Starlet Town lab, Yui was getting quite the lecture from the resident expert, Professor Willow. It wasn't boring, or anything… just all the different cities, and the things she had to look out for… it's just that it was taking forever!

                "Wow, Chikorita sure is being quiet," Yui said. "She hasn't bothered the Professor at all!"

                "She's probably waiting outside for us," Morty said. "You've got a well-trained Pokemon there."

                Yui smiled. "I know. I love her." 

                "Are you two listening?" Prof. Willow asked. The two turned red, and sweat-drops appeared on their foreheads. "Yes…" they droned. 

                "Good," Willow finished. "Now, what was I saying…? Oh, yeah…." 

                "This is the coolest place in town," Eevee said. "This is the restaurant… it's pretty small, so the guys in the back are pretty stupid. It's easy to sneak back there and swipe some goodies."

                "You mean steal?" Chikorita asked. "That's kind of unfair, don't you think?" 

                "Unfair? Hmph," Eevee said. "What other way do you expect us to eat? Ask them nicely?"

                Chikorita stared into the open doors of the restaurant's kitchen. "Ok, but just this once," she agreed. 

                "That's the spirit," Eevee said, quickly dashing in and moving under a table covered by a white cloth. "Hurry, under here!"

                Chikorita followed, and Eevee pointed out a small dish on top of a high table. "Can you smell that?"

                "Smell… what, exactly?" 

                "It's mixed soup!" Eevee announced. "To suit everyone's finer tastes!!! Steak bits for me, vegetables for you? Sound good, kid?"

                "Ooh, great!" said Chikorita. "How are we going to get it down?"             

                Eevee smiled strangely. "That's where you come in," she said. "While I distract the cooks, you grab the dish with your vines and high-tail it outta here. Ok?" 

                "O...Ok," she agreed reluctantly, ducking underneath the tablecloth while Eevee ran out. 

                "I'll meet you in the alley out by the Pokemart!" she announced as she dashed under the legs of one of the waiters. 

                "What's this? You again?" he announced, eyeing the all-too-familiar Eevee. "Well, this time you're not gonna get away with dinner!"

                "No, I'm not…" Eevee said (and of course, only she could understand ^_^), "but my friend will. Come and get me, suckah!" 

                While Eevee ran agilely around the lone chef in the room, Chikorita's vines trembled as they reached for the steaming bowl. She quickly wrapped her green vines around the dish and bolted, lightly tapping the bottom of the dish against the table. The waiter heard the sudden sound, and directed himself away from Eevee to find out who the new intruder was. 

                "Hey… HEY! You get back here!" he yelled, chasing down the little Chikorita, who still held fast to the bowl of soup. She ran, but it didn't seem like she was running fast enough. 

                "Oh, no," Eevee thought. "I'd better put my two cents in…" She ran up, bolting circles around the man's legs and throwing him off his center of balance. He stumbled and landed on his rear while Eevee took off after her accomplice. 

                "Oh man… That was fun!" Eevee said when she finally caught up to Chikorita. The two of them were in the very alley that Eevee had been talking about, with about half a bowl of soup left. The rest of it had spilled all over the streets while Chikorita was running. 

                "You've gotta be kidding me! Fun?" Chikorita protested. "That was scary!"

                "Ha, but look at what we got outta it," Eevee said, scooping up a huge piece of steak in her mouth. "Mmm…" she said as she swallowed. "Good! Try some!" 

                Chikorita looked into the dish, and saw fresh carrots, peas, celery, tomatoes, and other delectable veggies. She slurped up a mouthful and chewed rapidly. "It is great!" she said upon finishing. After finishing up a great breakfast, the two Pokemon abandoned the bowl and took off elsewhere in the city, Eevee in the lead. 

                "Where are we going now?" Chikorita asked, keeping the pace behind her daring little friend. 

                "Hm, you'll see," said Eevee. Chikorita rolled her eyes, and kept running. 

                "I hope we're going back to the lab," she thought aloud. 

                "Not quite yet," said Eevee, "but I'll take you there when we're finished with the tour. Deal?"

                "Deal," Chikorita agreed. She didn't necessarily want to, but it was the only way to for sure get back to the lab…

                "Where are we going?" Chikorita questioned as Eevee pushed open a thin wooden door, allowing them admission to a totally empty building. They walked down the hallway and ended up on a stage, surrounded with tattered red curtains. 

                "This is the old Starlet Town drama theatre," Eevee explained. "It used to be big and full of business, but now it's deserted. They're probably going to build a newer better one." 

                "Wow!" Chikorita said. _"At least we won't get in trouble for playing here. There's no one else around," she thought. _

                "Hey, look!" Eevee said, running to the side of the stage. She picked up a black and purple mask that was sitting on the floor, and lifted it to her face while sitting on her back legs. "How do I look?"

                But Chikorita wasn't concentrating on Eevee. She was staring above her, where the walls backstage seemed to be moving… "Um… Eevee? You might want to turn around…" 

                Eevee did, dropping the mask. There was nothing there… only walls. "What are you saying?" Eevee asked. "There's nothing there."

                "But I… I could have sworn…" 

                "Look! Do you see anything now?" Eevee said. "There's nothing there, kid. Get over it." 

                "If you say so," Chikorita said. "What now? Should we go?" 

                "I wanna look around a bit more," Eevee said, jumping down from the stage. "Then we'll go find your trainer." 

                Chikorita sighed. "Okay," she said, jumping down after Eevee. The two of them wandered around the floor, darting around the chairs. They started a small game of Tag, and were running around, laughing and trying to catch each other. Then, Chikorita noticed something that wasn't exactly normal…

                "This is great, huh?" Eevee said. "Chikorita?"

                "E…Eev…. Eevee…. Take a… Look at this…" she stammered, pointing up at the ceiling. Eevee looked, and sweatdropped… the mask that she had been wearing was floating a good five feet above the stage. 

                "Aah!" Eevee exclaimed. "How'd that happen?" 

                "There's something in here besides us!" Chikorita declared. "Let's get out of here!" 

                "I agree," Eevee said. The two Pokemon rushed up on the stage, and darted out the back door just as the mask dropped down below them. The wild Gastly floated there, laughing furiously at them….

                "And that's about all you need to know about Tokko," Willow concluded. Yui let out the breath she'd been holding, and Morty stood up to stretch out his legs and yawn. 

                "Thanks, Professor," Yui sighed, blinking a few times. "That was… certainly informative." 

                "Well, you're welcome," she said, beaming. "I know you already have your PokeDex and PokeBalls, so I think all you need is this." She handed Yui a folded piece of paper, which she unfolded to stare at. "It's a map of the Tokko region. You should be able to navigate easily with this."

                "Thank you!!" Yui exclaimed, not bothering to mention the fact that she'd forgotten half of what the Prof. had said already…

                "So, ready to go?" Morty asked. "Let's go get Chikorita."

                "Okay!" Yui said. "Bye, Professor! Thanks again!!"

                "Good luck, Yui, Morty," Willow said, waving. 

                At that very moment, Chikorita and Eevee burst through the door of the lab, breathing heavily. Yui and Morty walked into the lobby right after, chatting with each other. Yui's eyes lit up when she saw the Eevee. 

                "Oh, how cute!" she said. "No wonder Chikorita was so quiet! She's made a new friend!" 

                Morty smiled. Yui ran to Eevee and picked her up. "You're just the cutest," she said. "Do you have a trainer?"

                Eevee shook her head, a huge sweatdrop forming on her fur. "Well, then, why don't you come too? You can spend as much time as you like with my Chikorita!!" Eevee looked down at Chikorita, who also sweatdropped. Eevee gave Chikorita a look that said, "Look what you've gotten me into," and turned back to Yui, nodding yes.

                "Really??" Yui exclaimed. "Oh, yay! Morty, look! A new Eevee friend!!" 

                Morty shook his head and laughed. "You're too hyper for your own good, Yui-chan," he said. Yui blushed, and brought out a PokeBall for Eevee. 

                "Ready?" she asked. Eevee nodded, and Yui placed her new Pokemon inside the PokeBall. Then, with a flick of her wrist, she set Eevee's PokeBall on her belt and took Chikorita's, recalling her. "That's perfect! Now I have two Pokemon to train for the gym match!"

                "Okay, let's get going then," Morty said. "I guess we can try to get to the first gym by tomorrow. What gym is it again?"

                "The electric gym on Mt. Lightning," Yui said. "We could get there if you wanted to walk all night… Do you think that's a good idea?"

                "You're right," Morty said. "Let's go stay at the Pokemon Center again, and we can leave for Mt. Lightning in the morning. Ok?" 

                "Ok!" she said enthusiastically. "Race ya there, Morty!"

                With that, she took off running out the door. Morty smiled, blushing, and took off after her. 

****

****

****

****


	3. Shocking Shuckle

Pokemon – The Tokko Adventures  
  
Episode 3 – Shocking Shuckle  
  
  
  
After one crazy evening and one long night at the Pokemon Center, Yui and Morty finally started heading out to the first gym in Tokko. With one last heartfelt look back at Starlet Town, the duo wandered away, en route to Mt. Lightning. They didn't get far, however…  
  
"Oh, no!!!" Yui cried, running up to the roadblock centered on the small path. "Walking path is blocked off due to an accident! We can't get through here!"  
  
"Great," Morty said. "How are we going to get to Mt. Lightning now?"  
  
"There's a path over here," Yui said suddenly, running over to another roadway a few yards away. "But… I don't think we can take this way either. It's a highway…"  
  
"Yeah. We'd probably get run over," Morty laughed. Yui growled, and ran back up to him.  
  
"That's not funny!" she said. "I don't wanna get run over. How are we gonna get to Mt. Lightning now?"  
  
"I have no idea," Morty said, sitting down at the side of the road. "I guess we're stuck here until the route is open again."  
  
"And who knows how long that could take," Yui sighed, dropping down next to him. The two of them sat there, watching a couple of cars pass by. Just as they were about to get up to go back to Starlet Town, one of the cars pulled over and stopped…  
  
Morty stood up cautiously, approaching the silvery-purple convertible. The top of the car folded back, and Morty was confronted by a familiar face…  
  
"Hello, my old friend."  
  
"Hey! Eusine!" Morty exclaimed, running up to the car. "Since when did you drive?"  
  
"Since I got my license and picked up this," said Eusine, patting the side of his car. "And what are you doing all the way out here?"  
  
"…Oh yeah!" Morty said, turning around as Yui walked up. "This is Yui. We're traveling together."  
  
"But we can't get to Mt. Lightning," Yui said, staring at the new guy. "The road's closed."  
  
Eusine smiled brightly at her; fortunately, Morty didn't notice. "Well, how about a ride? I can take you there."  
  
Yui blushed bright pink. "Sure," she said. Morty didn't reply… he just ran around the front of the car and vaulted over the door, landing hard in the passenger seat. Eusine laughed as Yui calmly opened the door and slid into the back seat.  
  
"You're funny, Yui." Eusine said, looking back at her and winking. She blushed, and once again Morty didn't see…  
  
  
  
About half an hour later, Eusine stopped the car at the base of Mt. Lightning. Morty and Yui piled out, staring up at the tall mountain as their friend drove away.  
  
"This is gonna be difficult to climb," Morty said. Yui did a double take, and almost fell over.  
  
"Climb?" she questioned. "I can't… climb this!"  
  
"Well, I can't think of any other way up," Morty said, smiling at her. "Come on… it isn't steep. We won't fall."  
  
"Are you sure?" she whimpered, rolling her head onto his shoulder.  
  
"Yui, I would not ask you to do this if I didn't think you could," Morty said. He kissed her forehead, and freed his arm from hers. "Come on. I'll be right behind you, so if you do fall, you'll land on me."  
  
"Oh, that's reassuring," she mumbled.  
  
Morty sighed. "We can skip this gym if you want…"  
  
Yui silently gasped, worried that she was being annoying. "All right, let's climb!" she said enthusiastically, dashing to the foot of the mountain. "Come on Morty, don't be so slow!"  
  
Once again, he sighed, staring at her. She was just so damn cute sometimes. "Okay," he agreed, climbing up after her.  
  
After at least half an hour, the two trainers were nearing the top of the mountain… but not without a few complaints along the way. "Morty, I'm scared!" Yui called down for the millionth time.  
  
"It's okay, we're almost there," Morty reassured. "Keep climbing and you'll see solid ground in no time."  
  
"All right," she returned. "Wait… Morty, there's something up here!!"  
  
Her words sounded urgent; Morty looked up but couldn't see anything. "What?" he asked.  
  
"It looks like a Pokemon!!" she replied. "I can't see it!"  
  
Yui was right; it was a Pokemon, to be more exact a Shuckle. It was also trying to scale the mountain, but the poor thing was being drained of its energy. In a final attempt to make it, it jumped, hoping to reach the top. The jump was just a little too high, however, and it started falling…  
  
"No!" Yui yelled, catching the Pokemon in one hand. It was pretty heavy for a tiny Pokemon too, and its weight almost pulled Yui down with it.  
  
"Ahh… Morty, I can't hang onto this thing!!" she cried. "What do I do?"  
  
"Yui… I hate to say, but if you don't drop it, you may fall yourself," Morty said. "Maybe you should…"  
  
"I can't, it'll die!" she told him. She thought hard for a way to save the Shuckle… and suddenly, it hit her. She looked at the little Shuckle and said, "Don't be scared."  
  
With that, she threw the Shuckle as high as she could into the air. Then, reaching down, she claimed a Pokeball from her belt. "Chikorita, catch that Shuckle and hurry!" she commanded, releasing the leaf-animal from its ball. It landed on a flat piece of land, and reached with its vines to grab Shuckle and lift it up to its resting spot.  
  
"Nice!" Morty complimented.  
  
"Okay, Shuckle, I think the only way to get you off this mountain is to capture you," Yui said. "Would that be okay?"  
  
"Shuckle-uckle," it said.  
  
"Okay, then, Pokeball go!" she called, throwing an empty ball at the Pokemon. It was drawn inside with a burst of energy, and it stayed there. "Score! I just caught Shuckle!!" Yui cried.  
  
"Good job," said Morty, who had climbed up to be level with Yui. They looked into each other's eyes for a short moment, but Yui soon turned away.  
  
"Chikorita, return," she said calmly. "All right, almost there!" And she kept climbing.  
  
Morty stopped for a second, thinking… 'Yui just doesn't feel that way about you,' he told himself. 'Drop it. She's a great friend, and she'll never be anything more.' And with these thoughts, he climbed up after her.  
  
Finally, the Pokemon trainers reached their first destination – the city of Mt. Lightning. It was fairly small… the gym was the only building that really stood out. It was larger than the rest of the buildings, and a huge lightning bolt overlooked the door. But, Yui wanted to go to the Pokemon Center first to see if the Shuckle was okay. Of course, nobody objected.  
  
The Pokemon Center was a pretty building too… the outside and inside was coated with pink. A pretty girl sat behind the front desk, smiling politely at Morty and Yui; she was another one of the Joy family.  
  
"Hi! What can I do for you?" she asked.  
  
"I'm just checking the condition of this Shuckle I just caught," Yui replied. "It almost fell down the mountain."  
  
"Oh dear!" Joy said. "Does it need treatment?"  
  
"Probably not," Yui said, taking out its Pokeball. "I think it just needs a good rest. Go, Shuckle!"  
  
The Pokemon came out of its ball, smiling happily. Yui hugged it, making sure it was okay, and Joy spoke up, "Did you know you have a rare and valuable Shuckle?"  
  
"Really?" Yui asked. "How?"  
  
"See, its shell is purple instead of its normal shade of red," Joy pointed out.  
  
"Wow!!" Yui exclaimed, "you're right! I guess I was just too scared out there to notice what color it was. Cool!"  
  
"Well, I think your Pokemon looks fine," Joy said. "Are you here to challenge the gym leader?"  
  
"Yeah," Yui sighed. "But I'm nervous. I don't think I'm ready."  
  
"You'll do fine," Morty said. "Come on, let's go get a badge."  
  
She sighed, looking up into Morty's dazzling eyes. For the first time, she noticed the color of his eyes; one was a deep brown, like chocolate, but the other was dark emerald green with a thin ring of violet around the pupil. The colors looked stunning together. "All right," she finally said. "Maybe I can do this."  
  
The walk to the gym was short, but for Yui it felt like a thousand years. She kept thinking about her Pokemon… What if they couldn't cut it in a real gym battle?  
  
Her gaze trailed to the side, but she didn't turn her head as she stared at her companion. Looking into Morty's deep eyes like that had somehow brought out her confidence… just the way he had looked at her made her feel like there was nothing she couldn't do.  
  
"Are you awake?" somebody asked. Yui blinked out of thought to see that she was standing in front of the Lightning Gym's doors, and it was Morty's voice that she had heard.  
  
"Awake…? Uh… yeah! I think I am… awake," she stammered stupidly.  
  
"Listen, we can wait for a bit if you really don't want to do this," Morty told her. Yui looked up at Morty; his concerned eyes were staring her down… those eyes…  
  
"No way!" she exclaimed. "I am going in there and I'm gonna win a gym badge!" And with these strong words, she walked forward and pushed open the door to be greeted with a blast of cool air.  
  
"Ooh, AC," she sighed. "Hello? Anyone here?"  
  
"Yes," replied a male voice. It sounded a bit immature, but friendly. "Are you a challenger?"  
  
"Uh… Yeah!" Yui called out. "My name is Yui."  
  
"Well, hello," said the boy, stepping into the light of the gym. "My name's Jonathan. I'm the leader of the Mt. Lightning Gym."  
  
The boy had spiky black hair that looked similar to a DBZ hairstyle. He was wearing a yellow and orange uniform that looked like it came straight out of the military, and he had deep eyes that were almost black.  
  
"He doesn't look so tough," Morty whispered. Yui, however, thought differently… Jonathan looked pretty strong and intimidating in her eyes.  
  
"So you say you're a challenger," Jonathan said. "You look pretty old to be starting your training now."  
  
"What's so wrong about starting at sixteen?" she yelled.  
  
"Nothing… It's just unheard of, that's all," he replied. "Are you ready to battle, or are we gonna be standing here all day?"  
  
"Standing here sounds fine with me," Yui thought, but she spoke otherwise. "Is a three-on-three battle all right with you?"  
  
"Fine," he said. "You call out the first one."  
  
"Eevee! Lead off!" she called. The Pokemon emerged from the ball she threw and gave Jon a stern look.  
  
"Okay, I'll battle your 'baby' with mine," Jon said. "I choose Pichu!"  
  
Throwing a Pokeball, Jon released a cute little yellow Pokemon onto the battlefield. It had black ears and a black collar, and its tail was shaped like a lightning bolt.  
  
"Who are you calling a baby?" Yui demanded. "Your little rat's going down!!"  
  
"Uh-huh," Jon said. "No way is that little normal-type more powerful than my Pichu."  
  
"We'll see," Yui said.  
  
"Good luck, Yui," Morty said. She blushed, but soon returned her concentration to the battle. "All right, Eevee, let's start things off with your Quick attack!"  
  
Eevee darted from side to side, confusing the little Pichu a little bit. Suddenly, it slammed into Pichu's side, sending it flying across the gym.  
  
"Pichu, counterattack with your Swift!" Jon called. The little mouse let out a cute cry, and shot stars at Eevee, sending it off course. Its run of agility was temporarily stopped, and the attack seemed to do a lot of damage.  
  
"Come on, Eevee! Get up and use your Bite attack on it!" Yui said.  
  
Jon was silent. Morty scowled… he knew the gym leader was planning something. Just as Eevee ran up to Pichu and bared its teeth, Jon smiled.  
  
"Yui, look out!" Morty called.  
  
"Pichu, thunderbolt!" Jon instructed. Just as Eevee got near Pichu, it released its electricity. Eevee was shocked, literally. It flew backward and landed hard on the rough ground of the battlefield.  
  
"Oh no! Eevee!" Yui called. "Return!"  
  
"That was tricky," Morty said, staring at Jon's smiling face. "You'll have to watch out, Yui."  
  
"Yeah," she said. "All right! Now I choose Chikorita!!"  
  
"Chiko!!" said the Pokemon upon appearing. She faced the little Pichu, but not for long. Jon recalled it.  
  
"What are you doing?" Yui questioned. "Pichu didn't lose!"  
  
"I like to start fresh between battles," he said. "I choose you! Jolteon!"  
  
"Wow!" Yui exclaimed as the Pokemon configured itself from the bright flash of light. It was a bright yellow cat-like animal with a collar of spikes. "I love Jolteon!"  
  
"Keep focused, Yui," Morty warned. "If a little Pichu can beat you, this thing definitely can. Keep your guard up."  
  
"Okay," she agreed. "Chikorita! Start things off with your Light Screen!" The little leaf was more than happy to obey; she coated herself with an almost invisible layer of energy.  
  
"Jolteon, let's get serious! Pin Missile attack!" Jon instructed. The cat jumped into the air, showering Chikorita with a flurry of sharp needles. She crouched down, blocking herself with her thin leaf as best she could.  
  
"Come on, Chikorita! Get away from there and use your Vine Whip attack!!" Yui called quickly.  
  
"Chi-koo!" She darted out of the way and stood to the side, entangling the Jolteon in her rope-like vines. With all her strength, she lifted the Pokemon into the air a little and slammed it down. Jolteon whimpered, but soon stood up and growled at Chikorita.  
  
"Thunderbolt, now!" Jon said.  
  
"Razor leaf! Go!" Yui called. The command came a second too late, though… Chikorita was struck by the lightning bolt, and the entire room lit up.  
  
Jon smiled. "Two out of three," he started to say. "This battle is mine."  
  
"Think again." Yui smirked. The smoke cleared, and Chikorita stood there, almost completely unaffected.  
  
"How… That isn't possible!" he stammered.  
  
"The effects of Light Screen combined with Chikorita's resistance to lightning make your special attacks almost useless," Yui smiled. Behind her, Morty, clapped a little and smiled too. Jon just frowned.  
  
"We don't need our electricity to beat you," he said. "Jolteon, Tackle!"  
  
"Chikorita! Knock it over with Vine Whip when it gets close!" Yui said. Chikorita braced itself, and as the blindingly fast blur of yellow raced toward her, she thrust her vines forward, catching it completely off guard. It was knocked for a loop, and fell over backward.  
  
"Ugh… Return, Jolteon," Jon said. He looked down, replacing the PokeBall in his hand with another from his belt. Smiling, he held it up. "Are you going to stick with Chikorita?"  
  
"I don't see any reason not to," she said.  
  
Jon smirked again. "All right. I tried to give you a chance," he said. "Ampharos, go."  
  
With a bright flash, the Pokemon appeared on the battlefield; the final evolved form of a Mareep. But this one looked different; for one, it was way oversized. And its skin was tinted with a strange color of red. White sparkles fell around it as the crimson light from the PokeBall faded.  
  
"Wow," Morty complimented. "That thing looks awesome. And strong."  
  
Yui glared back at him. "I don't care how it looks. I can win this. Chikorita, go! Razor leaf now!" she commanded.  
  
"Chiko!" she declared, jumping forward with a twist of her leaf. She fired her attack at the Pokemon, but it seemed to bounce off without even slightly fazing it.  
  
"Ampharos! Show it a real Pokemon attack! Thunder now!" Jon called out. The Pokemon let out a purely evil cry and, jumping into the air, struck the leaf Pokemon with a lightning bolt bigger than you could describe. A cry of pain shattered Yui's heart, and as the lightning cleared, Chikorita lay on the ground, totally unconscious. Yui ran forward to her little Pokemon, cradling it in her arms.  
  
"Oh, Chikorita, I'm so sorry," she said. "I should have known you couldn't cut it. Come back."  
  
As Chikorita was pulled back into the PokeBall, Yui looked down at her last one nervously. Shuckle. She had just caught it, and she had absolutely no idea how it handled in battles. This was a long shot, and she thought about forfeiting right then. But then, Chikorita and Eevee's efforts would have all been useless. Scowling, she stood up and handled her final PokeBall. "Shuckle, I choose you!"  
  
As it emerged from the PokeBall, the same white sparks glistened around it, seemingly an effect of off-colored Pokemon. "Shuckle-uckle?" it questioned, looking around with a mixed-up look on its face. Yui could tell that Jon was ready to burst out laughing.  
  
"What is that?" he questioned. "A last resort? You can just give up if you want. I don't want to hurt something weak for no reason."  
  
"I do not give up so easily," Yui said. "Go, Shuckle. Use your…" It was then that she realized that she had no clue what this Pokemon could do. Feeling incredibly stupid, she pulled out her PokeDex and aimed the blinker at Shuckle. Jon smirked, but Yui ignored him. "PokeDex, analyze attacks for Shuckle."  
  
The screen immediately came to life with a list of techniques that it could use. Yui scanned through the list, thinking. What would be the best strategy to defeating that overpowering Ampharos? Too bad she didn't have enough time to think about it…  
  
"Ampharos!! Thunder shock attack!" Jon said. Shuckle stood there as the Electric-type came down with a weak attack meant to faze it a little. Shuckle was anything but fazed, though… its half-rock-type properties let it resist the attack a lot. Yui perked up as she realized her strategy.  
  
"Shuckle! Encore attack!" she instructed. Shuckle disappeared into its purple shell, and came back out emitting a weird purple light. The flash surrounded Ampharos' head, and its eyes half-closed, almost like it was seeing something the rest of them weren't…  
  
"Oh, come on, snap out of it!" Jon said. "Use your Slam attack!!"  
  
Ampharos backed up and released another Thunder shock on Shuckle, causing Jon's eyes to pop out of his head. "Ampharos! Listen to me!"  
  
"Heh.. Encore won't let him use anything but Thunder shock for a while," Yui smiled, looking at her PokeDex screen. "Now, little Shuckle, Bide attack!"  
  
This confused Jon to no end… Shuckle just sat there. It didn't do a thing. He laughed, and pointed out to Ampharos. "Try your Slam attack, again! Now!"  
  
"Ampharo!!!" It used Thunder Shock… again. Shuckle still sat there… doing nothing. After a few more rounds of this, a yawn erupted from one side of the field.  
  
"This battle is officially boring," Jon said.  
  
"No kidding," Yui said. "But it'll be anything but boring once Shuckle gets charged up."  
  
"How can that thing charge up? It's a rock," Jon said. "Whatever. Ampharos, once again! Slam attack!"  
  
Finally, it appeared the effects of Encore had worn out…Ampharos shook its head and slammed down on Shuckle with its tail. The attack hit one of its legs, and it damaged him pretty badly…  
  
"Eep! Critical hit!" Yui cried. "Shuckle, now! Release energy!!!"  
  
"Shuckle!!!" it cried, releasing a beam of energy at Ampharos. It was thrown backward, hit with double the power of what Shuckle had received. Its eyes spun around in little spirals, and it didn't get back up. Jon recalled his Pokemon in amazement, and Yui's eyes lit up.  
  
"I won…" she breathed. "I WON!!" She ran up and grabbed Shuckle, hugging it with every bit of strength there was in her arms. "You're the best Pokemon ever, Shuckle!!"  
  
"Shuckle?" was all it could say. It probably didn't have any idea what it had just done.  
  
"Well, that was well thought out," Jon said. "You're pretty smart for a beginner... Not to mention plain old pretty."  
  
She blushed, returning Shuckle to its PokeBall. "Thanks, I think," she said.  
  
"Here," Jon said, putting his arm forward. Centered in his palm was a yellow and orange badge, which looked like two intertwined lightning bolts. "This is the Shock Badge. Please accept it."  
  
"Thank you," she said, taking the badge. She pinned it to the front of her shirt and smiled brightly. "I can't believe I was able to do that!"  
  
"I can," Morty said. "You did really great out there, Yui." He took her into his arms and held her in a victory hug. She blushed, but hugged him back twice as hard.  
  
"Morty," she said. He looked down, and gave her a quizzical look. "You're the best." And she leaned up on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Right then, Morty's cheeks must have flushed every shade of red and pink in existence.  
  
"Uh… Come on. Let's get going," he said slowly.  
  
"Sure," Yui said, slowly moving out of his embrace. "Thanks again, Jon."  
  
"Ah, get going," he said playfully. "Go win the rest of the badges so I don't look like a loser."  
  
Yui laughed. "Bye," she said, following Morty out of the gym.  
  
  
  
After a quick heal-up at the Pokemon center, Yui and Morty set off to down the other side of Mt. Lightning. This route actually had a path to it, so it wasn't hard to get down. Yui was still gloating about her badge, and Morty was still red-faced about his kiss. It hadn't been much of a kiss, but still… it was Yui! That was a big deal to him!  
  
"Hey, Yui?" he said softly. She turned around, still walking, and looked right into his hypnotizing eyes.  
  
"Yeah?" she said happily.  
  
He hesitated. "Nothing," he said. "Never mind."  
  
"All right," she said, still walking. She'd been hoping he would bring up the kiss again… tell her that he felt the same way she did… 'I'd say it myself, but I'm too scared…'  
  
Suddenly, a small flash of light lit up a patch of sky in the distance. Yui looked up just in time to see a pretty Pokemon dart behind a cloud. It was white, with beautiful transparent wings that sparkled with highlights of violet and ice-blue. It left a trail of rainbow-colored diamonds of light as it disappeared into the sky.  
  
"Wow," she said, mesmerized.  
  
"What?" Morty asked, stopping at her side.  
  
"I just saw a really pretty Pokemon," she sighed, looking up at him.  
  
"Really?" he said. "What was it?"  
  
"I don't know," she said, and she described it to him. A confused expression came over his face, and he admitted that he didn't know either.  
  
"Oh well," he finished. "I guess we'll have to wait until we see it again."  
  
"Uh-huh…" she nodded. "It was really pretty."  
  
Morty smiled, blushing again. He put his arm around her shoulders and kept walking; she turned red and followed his footsteps. The next destination was Dream Town… The Town of Radiant Dreams. And hopefully, something there would bring out the dreams of love in the hearts of two certain Pokemon trainers…  
  
~To Be Continued….  
  
Author's Notes: What a sappy ending -^_^- I absolutely love it! Who knows how long it'll be until Chapter 4 is up. I'll try hard to have it up soon, okay? Okay!! *weak smile* Bye!!! 


	4. A Brand New Friend

Pokemon – The Tokko Adventures  
  
Episode 4 – A Brand New Friend  
  
  
  
It was already way past dark, and Yui and Morty were still wandering around outside. They were a good distance from where they'd started, but still pretty far from Dream Town. And both of them were starting to tire out. Yui was slouching as she walked, and Morty was struggling to keep his eyes open. Suddenly, Yui almost fell over backward; Morty quickly stopped her with his arm. She blinked her eyes open, and shook her head.  
  
"I don't think I can keep going," she said. "I'm way too tired out."  
  
"I hear ya," Morty said. "Should we stop somewhere for the night?"  
  
"Sure," she said. "But there's really nowhere to stop… just road. Are you sure that's safe?"  
  
"It's not," Morty said. "But if you can't keep going, there's no other alternative…"  
  
"I'll try to keep going," Yui said. But ten steps later, she was fading out again. Morty caught her in the middle of a fall, and carried her to the side of the road.  
  
"You sleep," he said. "I'll keep watch, okay?"  
  
"Are you sure?" she asked softly. He could tell she was falling asleep.  
  
"Yes, completely sure. Go to sleep," he said, letting her rest her head in his lap. She was asleep almost instantly… and Morty found himself falling asleep too. Slowly, he laid his head back onto the soft grass and closed his eyes….  
  
The next morning, Yui awoke to find Morty sound asleep. She looked at her watch… it was almost 10:00 in the morning. "Eep! Morty, wake up!" she cried, tapping his shoulder. He was completely still. "Get up!" Yui said, pulling back on his headband and snapping it back to his forehead. With a loud clap, he shot up, blinking rapidly.  
  
"What happened?" he asked, quickly and tiredly.  
  
"It's 10:00," she said. "We gotta keep going."  
  
"Ah… Okay," he said, rubbing his eyes. As they were getting up to leave, they saw something in the distance lighting up the road…  
  
They looked up to see the headlights of some kind of vehicle moving closer… closer… it was some kind of bus. It drew nearer and, to their surprise, stopped right in front of them.  
  
"Getting on?" asked the driver, opening the doors.  
  
"Uh…" Yui looked up; sure enough, they were standing right underneath a bus stop sign. "Where does this bus go?"  
  
"Express route to Dream Town. If you're a Pokemon trainer, it's free," said the driver.  
  
Yui smiled, and flashed her PokeDex. "I'm a trainer," she said.  
  
"Do gym leaders count?" Morty asked, bringing out an ID card. The driver nodded, and Morty stepped on after Yui. But as he was going to find a seat, he stopped short… the bus was totally crowded over. There probably wasn't a single seat left on the bus, but Yui had managed to find one. She was sitting next to some guy dressed in black, and she was smiling stupidly at Morty.  
  
"Ha," she said. "No seat for Morty."  
  
He smiled back at her. "Whatever," he said, standing at the front of the bus. "I don't mind standing."  
  
As the bus sped across the pavement, Morty kept his eyes on the scenery outside. This area of Tokko was really beautiful… all kinds of plant life lined the edges of the road, and many little wild Pokemon were resting in the forested area. It was nice…  
  
"Hey," said the guy sitting next to Yui. He smiled strangely at her, and swung his arm over to rest on the back of the double seat.  
  
"Hello," she said nervously. This guy wasn't around her age at all… he had to be at least 19 or 20 years old. And his appearance didn't help either… was coated in nothing but black. Even his hair, which hung loosely over his eyes, was deep black.  
  
The guy smiled. "So, who's the guy over there? Your boyfriend?" he asked.  
  
"No," Yui replied. She edged away a little, but he kept moving on to her.  
  
"Well, that's good," he said, "I was worried that this pretty face was already taken."  
  
"Um…" Yui stared to get up, but he held his arm on her shoulders. She let out an uneasy whimper, and Morty scowled.  
  
"Hey! Get off of her!" he yelled, stepping up as close as he could.  
  
The guy smiled sadistically. "Aww, why?" he said. "She even said you're not her boyfriend."  
  
"That gives you no right to jump on her like that!" Morty shouted. "Now leave her alone!"  
  
"Make me," the guy scoffed. Yui pushed him away from herself and stood up.  
  
"We want off," she said, storming to the front of the bus. The driver stopped promptly and let Yui get off, followed by a very steamed Morty.  
  
"That was too creepy," Yui said, brushing off her shoulders.  
  
"No kidding," Morty replied. "So I suppose we're walking the rest of the way to Dream Town."  
  
"I guess," Yui said. "No big deal. We're not tired anymore, so we should get pretty far, no problem."  
  
"Even though we're a long way off," he said. "Oh well. A couple more days and we'll get there." "Let's take the forest route," Yui suggested. "I want to capture some more Pokemon for the gym."  
  
"'Kay," Morty agreed. The duo stepped over the bushed lining the road, and entered a shady woodland area. There were a lot of wild Pokemon, but upon seeing the two trainers, many of them scurried away.  
  
"It's so nice and pretty in here!" Yui said, picking a small pink flower and stringing it through her hair. "I love being outside in a new place for once. Sure, the fields around the plateau are beautiful and all, but it's so much more exciting being away from home."  
  
"I know. It's nice to be away from Ecruteak for a change," said Morty. "It's just a city… there's not really any nice places like this. Except for the National Park south of town, but I never really get to go there."  
  
"I say we hang out here for a bit," Yui suggested. "To take our minds off of that bus ride."  
  
"Sure," Morty said. "We've got nothing to lose."  
  
For the rest of the day, Yui and Morty spent a lot of time running around, exploring the forest. They found a lot of cute wild Pokemon, including a family of Chikoritas with three little babies! But most of the Pokemon were just common Pidgey and Rattata. Not much to see there.  
  
They had also gotten formidably closer to Dream Town without even knowing it… after finding a small landmark in the middle of the forest, Yui checked it out on the map, and realized that they were only a short distance away from their next city. A day's travels, give or take a few hours, would get them there.  
  
"Yaaaay!!!" Yui shouted excitedly. "We're almost in Dream Town! We're almost in Dream Town!" she sang while doing a little dance. Morty watched her, laughing, and clapped when she finished.  
  
"So, shall we keep going then?" he asked. Yui nodded happily, and they started walking in the direction of Dream Town. Yui skipped along the path, smiling brightly; but her smile was soon shattered…  
  
She stopped, trying not to make a sound. Morty stopped behind her.  
  
"What is it?" he asked. She put one finger in front of her mouth and shushed him, then said silently, "Listen."  
  
He listened hard, trying to hear what she was. "A Pokemon?" he asked.  
  
"Ssh!" she whispered again. This time, he opened his ears and looked around… and then he heard it. A female voice in the distance, screaming for help.  
  
"This way," he said, tiptoeing slowly toward the source. He and Yui peeked over a bunch of bushes to see a girl with neon blue hair… and the guy dressed in black from the bus. He had hold of her wrist, and she was screaming frantically.  
  
"Do you ever give up?" Morty yelled, running out of the bushes. "Leave her alone!"  
  
"Oh, you again," the guy said. "You got me kicked off of that bus, you know."  
  
"Not like I care," Morty said. "Now release her. Or I'll have to take action."  
  
The guy grasped the blue-haired girl's wrist hard and threw her to the ground. She slid and stayed in place, afraid to move. Morty growled again, preparing himself to fight.  
  
"You think you're intimidating?" the guy in black asked with a laugh.  
  
"I'd back off right now," Morty warned.  
  
"Ooh, I'm so scared," he said. Morty squinted his eyes in anger and ran forward, his fist connecting with the right side of the guy's head. He staggered backward, holding his face, and shook his head in anger. "You'll regret that," were his last words before he took off. Morty sighed heavily, and went to help the girl up.  
  
"Are you okay?" he asked, putting his arm forward. She took his hand and stood up with his help.  
  
"I'm fine," she said. "Thank you."  
  
"No problem," he replied as Yui stepped up to the two of them. "My name is Morty. And this is Yui."  
  
"Hi. I'm Teal," said the girl. "It's nice to meet both of you."  
  
"Yeah," Yui said. "You sure you're okay? What happened?"  
  
"It was scary," Teal said. "I was walking on my way to Dream Town, and suddenly that guy just jumped me! I'd never been more scared… It's lucky you were there, Morty."  
  
"Wait," Yui said quickly. "You're on your way to Dream Town? Are you a trainer?"  
  
"I am, but I'm not collecting badges," Teal replied. "There's a convention going on there in about three days, and I want to be there to enter some of the contests. I go every year."  
  
"We're on our way there too," Morty said. "Yui's collecting badges."  
  
"That's cool," Teal said.  
  
"Hey, I was thinking," Yui said. "Maybe we should stay together. At least until we get to Dream Town. Morty could protect both of us from that scary guy."  
  
"Good idea," Teal laughed. "I was feeling kind of reluctant to keep going on my own…"  
  
"Okay," Morty finished. "Well, if we keep going, we can find someplace to rest for the night and get there by tomorrow… sound good?"  
  
"Great!" Teal agreed. "Let's go!"  
  
"Yui, you listening?" Morty asked.  
  
No, she wasn't… She had her back turned, and she was staring at something through the trees. "What's wrong?" he asked.  
  
"Is that guy back?" Teal asked shakily. Yui shook her head, and continued staring.  
  
"Don't you see that?" she asked. "It looks like… that pretty Pokemon I saw…"  
  
She took off running, darting through the trees aimlessly. "Yui, wait!" Morty called, dashing after her and almost forgetting about Teal. By the time he remembered her and turned around, though, she was gone…  
  
"Teal? Morty called, looking in every direction. "Teal? Yui?"  
  
"I'm here, Morty…" said a dreamy-sounding voice. Morty spun around to see Yui walking slowly up to him… she was almost floating off the ground with every step she took. But Morty hardly noticed… he felt almost mesmerized. Yui kept getting closer to him… and closer, until she was almost right up against him.  
  
"Morty…" Her voice rang out in an unreal echo. Morty closed his eyes as she closed hers, she leaned forward dramatically…  
  
And a cold mist broke around Morty's shoulders. He opened his eyes to see nothing but forest… no Yui in sight. "What the… Yui?"  
  
  
  
"Hey! Morty! Where'd you go?" Teal called out. Morty had taken off after Yui, and she'd tried to follow, but he was a little too quick. Now Teal was lost too…  
  
"You guys?" She kept trying to keep her voice to a low whisper; she was still scared of the mysterious guy. "Yui? Morty?"  
  
"And this year's big winner is Teal Moonspell!" said a sudden voice. It echoed over, as if someone were speaking in a microphone from far away… Teal turned around to see a stage appear out of nowhere, with a really good- looking guy standing up on it…  
  
"Are you coming up to accept your prize?" he asked, his voice rippling through the air. Teal blushed, and started walking toward the stage…  
  
Then she blinked, and just like that everything disappeared. The stage was replaced by a small hill, the man a thin tree; she blinked a few more times, but her surrounding didn't change.  
  
"Um… What just happened? Hello?"  
  
Yui stopped short, scanning the skies for her pretty Pokemon. It had disappeared as fast as it had come, and she was alone now. "Oh pretty Pokemon…"  
  
"Over here," said a mystical voice. Yui spun around to see… nothing. "Or am I over here?" She kept turning her head, following the strange voice until she got dizzy. Finally, she looked to see that beautiful Pokemon disappear into the sky…  
  
"Hey! Wait!" she called, reaching her arm out. "What are you?"  
  
Yui looked up then, and noticed that Morty and Teal were nowhere in sight… "Hey! Morty! Teal! They didn't follow me…."  
  
"How can I find them now?" Teal thought aloud to herself. She sat under a leafy tree, looking around… there was no sign of her new friends, and no way of contacting them at all. She sat there thinking for the longest time… and finally came up with an idea.  
  
"Hopefully they see this," she said, taking out a PokeBall. "Jolteon, go!"  
  
"Jo-olt!" said the Pokemon, looking happily up at Teal.  
  
"Jolteon, release a thunderbolt as high as you can into the air," she said, pointing upward. The electric cat looked up and, carefully aiming through the trees, shot a bolt of lightning high up into the air…  
  
Morty and Yui noticed the lightning bolt at almost the same time. Of course, out of curiosity, they ran toward where it was coming from; they both reached Jolteon and Teal at almost the same time.  
  
"Hey, guys," Teal said, recalling Jolteon.  
  
"Teal!" Yui exclaimed. "That was brilliant!"  
  
"It was nothing," she said. "I just didn't want us all to be separated."  
  
"Well, thank you Teal," Morty said. She blushed, and looked up.  
  
"It's dark already," she said. "Should we just set up camp here?"  
  
"Sure," said Yui, sitting down on the ground. "I'm tired… I was looking for that pretty Pokemon that I saw."  
  
"That's nice," Morty said, sitting down next to her. He put his arms around her shoulders, and pulled her down so she was resting on his lap. The two fell asleep almost instantly, and Teal fell back on a soft patch of grass near them.  
  
"I should have known a great guy like Morty would have a girlfriend," she thought to herself, resting her head on her backpack. She fell asleep, looking up at the stars and thinking about how Morty had saved her life… It had definitely been love at first sight. 


	5. Flaming Confusion

**_Pokemon – The Tokko Adventures_****__**

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**_Chapter 5 – Flaming Confusion _**

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****

**_                Teal was awake first that morning; it had been an uncomfortable night, but at least she was still alive… She got up and, glancing quickly at her two friends sleeping contently together… sure, they looked cute, but she still felt a little jealous. Teal sighed, and got up to look around. _**

                The group had stopped in a small clearing close to Dream Town, a nice spot with everything imaginable in sight. From where she stood, Teal could see a small brook and a field of tall grass that was probably crawling with Pokemon, not to mention the surrounding forest. Sighing again, she knelt down at the brook and splashed some of the ice-cold water on her face. 

                _"This isn't fair…" she thought to herself, staring at her own reflection in the water. __"I know I shouldn't be pining over someone else's guy, but… He's everything I've ever dreamed of in a guy!" _

                "Good morning, Teal!" Yui said, coming up behind her. The blue-haired girl jumped about a mile into the air, and nearly fell face-first into the water.

                "Don't do that!" she said, shaking her head. "Mornin', Yui."

                Yui sat down cross-legged beside her new friend, running her hands through the water. "Did you have a good sleep?"

                "Yeah," Teal said, "I guess so." 

                "Hm… I had a nice dream," said Yui, looking down into the clear water. "Well… are you ready to go? We can go wake Morty up and get going to Dream Town…" 

                "Okay," Teal said. "You and Morty make the cutest couple ever." 

                Yui looked shocked. "Couple?" she questioned, tilting her head. "Morty and I aren't a couple."

                "Oh! You seem like it, though!" Teal cried. "You seem so close…"           

                "Morty's just a big sweetheart," Yui explained. "He's very affectionate. And we've both liked each other a lot since the first time we met. We aren't a couple… yet." She smiled semi-evilly. 

                Teal's eyes lit up. _"They aren't together…"  she thought. __"I may have a chance with him!!"_

_                "You say that so confidently," Teal said. "But what happens if some pretty girl in Dream Town steals him from you?" _

                "I doubt that's gonna happen," Yui said, looking down at Morty. "Isn't he… just the most beautiful example of a male you've ever seen? He's perfect…" 

                "Yeah," Teal sighed. "Perfect." 

                After waking Morty up and getting tickled half to death, Yui packed up her stuff and announced that she was ready to go. Teal, who had been sitting by the water all morning, quickly got up and followed; Morty stumbled behind, walking slowly and frequently rubbing his eyes. Yui noticed this, and lagged back to talk to him. 

                "Are you okay?" she asked, holding him up with her arm. 

                "Fine," he said, yawning. "I just didn't have a very good rest last night… I was having uneasy dreams." 

                Yui's eyes widened. "Really?" she asked, "what kind of dreams? Are you okay?"

                Morty sighed. "It's nothing, really," he replied, looking up to the sky. "It's just…"

                "Just what?" asked Teal, walking at Morty's other side. 

                "…Nothing," he said. "It's not important." 

                "If you're sure," Yui said, taking his arm and leaning on his shoulder as they walked. Teal slouched at this, almost glaring at Yui. 

                _"You're such a hopeless flirt, did you know that?" she thought. __"Yui… You say you and Morty aren't together, but you just love to make everyone think you are…" _

                "So, Teal, what kinds of competitions are they going to hold in Dream Town?" Morty asked, breaking her line of thought. 

                "I'm not exactly sure," she said. "They have all kinds of different contests every year. The only one I'm sure they'll hold is the Pokemon battle tournament, and that's what I'm going to enter."

                "Yay!!" Yui said. "A tournament might help me warm up for the gym. Sounds like fun!" 

                "I'll battle you," Teal said with a smile. "And I'll win." 

                "We'll see about that," she said, the two girls running forward. Morty was left behind, running to follow them and watching both girls. He knew everything that they thought; and he just hoped nothing would come between them… because of him. 

                And they were almost there… one bit of forest to pass through, and the group would be right on the outskirts of Dream Town. Yui and Teal were ecstatic and hyper, and Morty was just hanging back, totally lost in thought. What brought him back to consciousness was a girl's voice screaming loudly, right in front of him… Actually, two girl's voices… 

                "KAWAII!!!!" Teal and Yui yelled at the exact same time. They went on to blabber about some… thing that was there, and how it was "so cute" and how they were going to capture it; "What are you guys talking about?" Morty asked. 

                "Look, Morty!!!" Yui cried, pointing forward. He looked… in front of them was possibly one of the cutest Pokemon Morty had ever seen… it was a small red kitten, with a tail of flames, and the brightest blue eyes that stared up at him in the cutest possible way. 

                "Aww," he said, a word totally out of place for him. "That is cute!!" 

                "Oh… It is so mine!" Teal exclaimed, bringing out a PokeBall. 

                "No way, I'm catching this little cutie!!" Yui declared. "I choose Eevee!" 

                "Teddiursa!" Teal called, releasing the Honey Bear Pokemon from its ball. Yui's eyes lit up; "That's almost as cute as this little thing!!" 

                "Why don't you check your PokeDex to see what it is, Yui?" Morty asked. "I don't think I've ever seen this Pokemon." 

                "Heh… Neither have I," Teal said. "I just want it…"

                Yui brought out the small computer, and pointed the light at the kitten. It lit up, and the Pokemon's picture appeared on the screen. 

                "Keyflame. The Fire Kitten Pokemon; a newly discovered species. The mortal enemy of the Growlithe/Houndour chain, this energetic Fire-type Pokemon is a great starter for new trainers," droned the Dex in a monotone voice. 

                "Ah… I so have to catch this thing!" Yui said. "Eevee, go! Use your Tackle attack on that Keyflame!" 

                "Buii!" it shouted, running forward at the flaming Pokemon. It spun on its heel, catching Eevee across the face with its flaming tail, and took off running in the opposite direction. 

                "Oh… No!" Teal cried as Yui tended to her Eevee. "Teddiursa, let's go! We can't let it get away!!!"

                Her Pokemon let out a battle cry as it ran at its trainer's side. Yui, Eevee and Morty followed close behind, until the little Pokemon led them into a small clearing in the middle of the forest. 

                "Oh, come on, little Keyflame, we have to get going now!" Teal shouted. "Keyflame?" 

                Suddenly, it darted behind her, making her spin quickly and almost lose her footing. Another shot in front of her feet, and a third to her side; in all the confusion she fell over, looking around. 

                "So there's more than one of them," she said. "Not smart to lead us to your breeding grounds, little Pokemon…"

                "That's really strange," Yui said. "It's definitely not like a Pokemon to lead strangers into its family's home like that. I wonder what's wrong." 

                "Hmm…" Teal sighed, still keeping her eyes out for one of those Keyflame. Suddenly, two of them jumped out right in front of her! Another two, to her left… and three to the right of the group. 

                "Damn…. I think we're outnumbered," Morty sighed. 

                "Ya think?" Teal said sarcastically. "But come on, we can take 'em. Let's go, Teddiursa." 

                "Eevee, let's go!" Yui commanded. "Now," she began…

                "Both of you…" Teal continued.

                "Attack at once!" they finished together. The two Pokemon charged their targets, but for some reason, all of them were able to avoid being hit. Together, the kittens fired consecutive flamethrower attacks at Eevee and Teddiursa, driving them backward. 

                "Come on, you guys, it's useless," Morty said. "Let's keep going toward Dream Town. These Keyflame obviously don't want to be captured."

                "Well…" Teal began to protest, but one of the flamethrowers shot by her head. "Yep. Let's go!" 

                They took off running the other way, human and Pokemon alike. And just as they were getting far enough away from the Keyflame to be safe, Yui stopped short.            

                "I am… so stupid," she said. 

                "What? Why?" Morty asked. 

                "I… dropped my backpack," she said, pointing. "Back there." 

                Teal clapped sarcastically, and laughed; Yui laughed too. "Beautiful, Yui," Teal said. 

                "I know," she sighed, sitting down. "If we go back and get it, those Keyflame will toast us. But if we don't go back… all my stuff is in that backpack." 

                "We are going back," Morty said. "For sure. We just need to figure out how to get past the Keyflame back there."

                "Yeah…" Teal said, her energy seemingly gone all of a sudden. She was staring forward, almost like she was staring at something that wasn't there…

                "Teal!" Morty said, shaking her shoulders. She blinked back into reality and stared at him. 

                "What the…" she groaned. "That was weird… weren't we just in Dream Town?"

                "No, we've been here the whole time," Yui said. 

                Morty looked up. "I sense something here," he said. "Something's making you see some illusions, Teal…"

                As he said those words, a purple fog lightly covered the area. In front of where Teal had been standing, a purple cloud configured into the shape of a strange Pokemon… 

                "Gas-gas-gas!" it laughed, its eyes shut. It almost fell out of the sky it its fit of laughter. 

                "Hey, a Gastly!" Morty said. "What're you doing out here?" 

                Yui's Eevee sniffed the air in response. It started talking in some weird Eevee talk, and Yui listened hard, trying to interpret. 

                "I think it's saying… she knows this Gastly from somewhere," she repeated. "And… so should we?" Eevee nodded her head and glared at Gastly. 

                Then the Gastly spoke, and it was Morty's turn to translate; being the Ghost Master of Ecruteak City, he could tell exactly what it was saying. "It says, 'Of course I know you, Eevee. I scared you and your friend out of that dance theatre… I was also the one playing tricks on you yesterday in the woods.' So…" 

                "My pretty Pokemon," Yui sighed. 

                "That cute guy on the stage…" Teal said dreamily. 

                "That… thing, that I saw," Morty stammered, blushing and looking away from Yui. "That was all an illusion created by you, Gastly?" 

                It nodded a yes. Then, it spoke again. "It says… it can help us get your bag back, Yui. It knows what the Keyflame is up to… and it has a plan," Morty interpreted. 

                "Oh… That's great!" Yui said. "Thank you, Gastly!!" 

                It nodded, flying toward the Keyflame's domain with the rest of the group on its tail. They got back there in no time at all… Yui's backpack was lying in the middle of a clearing, and all of the Keyflame were out of sight. Yui ran up and grabbed her backpack, looking around cautiously. 

                "Good, they're gone," she said, "now we can just get out of here…" 

                All of a sudden, one of the little kittens jumped out in front of her. Another appeared behind her, and two more to each side. Yui screamed, and tried to jump for Morty, but a flame cut her off, sending her flying backward. 

                "What do I do? What do I do?" she screamed frantically. "Eevee! Help!" 

                "Vee!" it said, charging forward. As it was about to tackle one of the Keyflame down, Gastly zipped in front of it, stopping it in its tracks. 

                "Gastly, what are you doing?" Morty asked. It turned around, glaring at the Keyflame while a red light poured out of its eyes, making the rest of the forest go dark. Slowly, one by one, the Keyflame disappeared… just faded away into the redness. Eventually, only one remained… 

                "Oh! I feel like an idiot now," Teal said. "The stupid thing was using Double Team…" 

                "Quick, get it, Teal!" Morty said as the Gastly retreated. 

                "Right!" She stepped forward, with Teddiursa at her side. "Go, now! Use your Take Down, Teddiursa!" 

                "Flame!!!" the kitten screeched, releasing a Flamethrower at the bear. It jumped up, flipping over the flames, and rammed head-first into Keyflame. 

                "PokeBall, go!" Teal said, throwing forward an empty PokeBall. The kitten was hit and sucked inside, and the ball shook for a few seconds before coming to a complete stop. Teddiursa picked it up and brought it carefully to its trainer. "Yes!" Teal said. "Good work, Teddiursa! Return!" 

                "Go, you!" Yui said as Teal attached both of the PokeBalls to her belt. "So… I guess you got the only real Keyflame… I wanted one." 

                "It's all right," Morty said, helping her to her feet. "Come on... we're so close to Dream Town! Shouldn't we keep going?" 

                "Yeah," Yui agreed. Teal nodded, and kept going along the path. She was feeling extremely proud of herself, having caught the Pokemon that she'd wanted. But she still felt empty, and depressed…

                _'What is wrong with me?' she thought as she walked, Yui and Morty following close behind. __'Ever since Morty saved my life, I've felt so alone… Maybe it's because I know I stand no chance with him.' She looked back at her two friends; they were now walking arm-in-arm, smiling and laughing. Yui waved to Teal, and she waved back, turning back to the front. Those two would be paired up in no time… and Teal would be left in the dirt again. _

                Yui laughed, clinging to Morty's arm. "That was almost fun," she said. "We got beaten so badly by a Double-Teamed Pokemon… Ha! We're silly." 

                "Yeah," Morty said, smiling. "Wonder where that Gastly went?" 

                "Dunno," Yui said, looking back. Eevee trotted along at her side, but the other Pokemon was nowhere to be found. "Guess he left." 

                "Guess so," Morty repeated, holding Yui's hand. "Let's catch up to Teal." 

                "Right," she said as they ran forward. They skipped to her side, and the three of them walked together to Dream Town….


	6. The City of Big Dreams

**_Pokemon – The Tokko Adventures_****__**

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**_Chapter 6 – The City of Big Dreams_**

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**_                By the evening, Yui, Morty and Teal had reached the city of Dream Town, the third-largest city in all of Tokko. The streets were absolutely packed with trainers and Pokemon, getting ready for the festival. Some people were having practice battles in the street; others, sitting on the sidelines watching and studying notes and handbooks. They also saw a couple or people dancing, and some weird guys breathing fire. _**

                "I see now!" Teal said suddenly, clapping her hands together. "There are going to be three competitions this year… the battles, and most likely a talent contest and a test of knowledge. You can tell just by looking at the crowds."

                "You're smart," Yui said. 

                "Naw," Teal said. "I just come here every year."

                "So where do we go to sign up for all of these?" Morty asked. 

                "Follow me!" Teal said, running ahead. She led the group to a small clearing in the center of the city, where a bunch of trainers stood around a stage. "Here's the central stage… you sign up for the competitions here," she said, looking up. "Oh! And according to the signs here, the first place winner of each contest will win a PokeGear!" 

                "Oh, cool!" Yui said. "I'm entering!"

                "Hey," Morty began, "wouldn't it be cool if we all entered a different contest? Then all of us would have a chance at getting a PokeGear."

                "Ooh, good idea!" Teal said. "I call the battles!"

                "Hmm… I studied at Pokemon Tech for a few years, but I'm not the smartest… Morty, do you want to enter the quiz thingy?"

                "Yeah, sure," he agreed. "I'm smart…" 

                "Eep," Yui said suddenly. "That leaves me with the talent competition… I have no talent!!!"

                Both of them stared at her with wide eyes. "No talent?" Morty asked in amazement. "Come on! There's gotta be something you can do!!! I mean… You're _Yui!!" _

                "I know that," she said stupidly. "I just… don't think there's much I can do…. Wait. I know!" 

                She took off running toward the stage, running up the steps and talking to the person at the desk. By the time Teal and Morty caught up to her, she was already looking through some kind of thick book. 

                "Don't look!!" she said as they approached. "It's a surprise!"

                "I see," Teal said, walking up to another section of the desk. "I'd like to sign up for the tournament…" 

                "Sure! Just fill out this form with your name and the Pokemon you have," the lady said. While she did that, Morty signed up for the quiz, and Yui finished picking something out of the book. The three of them walked away together, all pleased and excited. 

                "I can't wait!" Yui chirped, almost bouncing with excitement. "I am going to knock the competition into the next city!!" 

                "I'm going to beat 'em all up with my Keyflame and her Double Team!" Teal announced. 

                "I'm going to…" Morty started, but stopped when somebody ran right into him. Both of them fell to the ground, and the other boy looked up nervously, adjusting his glasses. 

                "Oh, I'm sorry," he said, scrambling to his feet. "I didn't mean to… Morty?!?"

                Morty stood to his feet, getting a closer look at the brown-haired boy. "Hey! Tristan!" 

                The two shared a high five, and Yui and Teal stared at them strangely. "Who's this?" Yui asked. The boy turned to her, and he seemed to freeze for a short second. His cheeks turned pink, and he shot out his arm nervously toward her. 

                "My name's Tristan," he said, shaking her hand. "Tristan Shuster, from New Bark Town. It's nice to meet you… uh…" 

                "Yui Kinomoto," she said happily, shaking his hand back with an extra burst of energy. 

                "I'm Teal Moonspell," Teal said, also shaking Tristan's hand. "And it looks like you already know Morty."

                "Of course I know Morty!" Tristan said. "We were best friends when we were little!"

                "Yeah," Morty said. "I haven't seen you in years! How have things been going for you?"

                "Fine, I suppose," he said. "I've been training a lot… I'm only here in Tokko for the convention, but I might decide to stick around a bit. It's a nice place."

                "It is beautiful," Yui said, her hair flickering like fire in the small breeze. Tristan stared longingly at her, his cheeks reddening… 

                "So, are you entered in any of the competitions?" Teal asked suddenly, breaking his daze. 

                "Uh… Oh! Yeah…" he said, a huge sweatdrop forming on his forehead. "I entered the battle tournament… I'm pretty confident that I can win."

                "Oh yeah?" Teal said jokingly, smirking at him. "I entered the battles too. And I'm the one walking away with that PokeGear."

                "We'll just see," Tristan said. "Hey, can I hang out with you guys for a bit? I'm kind of bored…."

                "Sure," Morty said. "We'll probably just hang out until we have to compete. Not much to do…"

                _"May I have everyone's attention, please!" came a voice over a loudspeaker. __"The first competition to take place today will be the Pokemon battle tournament! All of the competitors have been placed on the charts, and we are ready to begin!! We will be calling your name when it's your turn to battle, so whoever's competing, keep your ears open!"_

_                "Ooh… Won't be long now!" Teal said, as the announcer went on to call out two names, the first people to battle. "There are usually not many people in the tournament… Usually, they only allow about twenty or so… I should be battling soon." She clapped her hands together in excitement. "Come on… let's go find some food!!"_

                "Yeah!" Yui exclaimed, running along with her. "I'm starved!"

                Tristan stared after them, and Morty sweat-dropped. "Should we follow them?" Tristan asked. 

                "Well, we don't need them getting lost," said Morty, running through the crowd with Tristan following close behind. 

                It was halfway through lunch when the loudspeaker came on again. _"Can we have Tony Must and Teal Moonspell to the stage for their battle, please? Tony Must and Teal Moonspell, report to the stage." _

                "Oop, that's my cue!" Teal said, jumping up and quickly finishing the last bite of her cheeseburger. "You guys coming to watch?" 

                "Totally," Morty said. The group ran toward the stage, and Yui and the boys sat down as Teal ran onstage. Tony was already standing on his end of the battlefield, PokeBall in hand. He was a young-looking boy, with a red shirt and blue shorts with navy-colored pockets on the sides. His dark hair protruded from underneath a dark blue cap, which was worn backward on his head. 

                "Great! Both challengers have arrived on the stage!" said the announcer. "Now, just like the last few matches, this will be a one-on-one Pokemon battle with no time limit. The first Pokemon that is unable to continue battling will lose the round. Choose your Pokemon now!"

                "Houndour, go!" called Tony, releasing the PokeBall from his palm. The dog Pokemon emerged, barking and howling furiously. It had clearly been well-trained.

                "I choose Keyflame!" Teal announced. Her Pokemon came forward and, taking one look at its opponent, hissed angrily. 

                "Heh… That little kitten won't stand a chance against my Houndour!" Tony declared. "Houndour, go! Use Bite!" 

                "Keyflame! Dodge and use your Double Team!" Teal instructed. The kitten jumped up, and multiplied itself, the many illusions surrounding Houndour. Tony and his Pokemon looked around, searching for the real one. 

                "Ugh… Houndour, try using your Flame Wheel. Hit 'em all!" he said quickly. 

                "Douuur!" the Pokemon cried, filling the entire battlefield with raging flames. The fake images of Keyflame disappeared, leaving the real one… but as it was hit by the flames, it closed its eyes, absorbing the energy. 

                "You found the real Keyflame," Teal said, "but not without energizing her in the process. Heh… Keyflame, use your Flamethrower!"                

                "Break through it and use Crunch!" Tony called. Keyflame fired a stream of flames, but the dark dog ran right through it, clamping its jaws down on Keyflame's side. It meowed in pain, almost falling to the ground. 

                "No, Keyflame!" Teal said. "Come on, get up! You just have to!" 

                It meowed once softly, standing weakly to its feet. Teal sighed in relief. "Great! Now use your Take Down!" she said. 

                "Houndour, get out of the way!" Tony cried. Keyflame charged its competitor, knocking it across the stage. "Come on, Houndour, give it another Crunch attack!

                "Keyflame!! Jump and use your Take Down from above!" Teal shouted. The kitten just barely avoided Houndour's sharp fangs as it sprung into the air, landing on the dog's back with a forceful tackle. It howled agonizingly, dropping to the ground, its eyes spinning tiredly. 

                "Return, Houndour," Tony said, sounding a bit disappointed. As he turned to walk off the stage, the announcer stepped forward, raising a flag. 

                "The winner of this match is Teal Moonspell!" he called out. "Congratulations, Teal, you'll be moving onto the quarterfinals!"

                "Yay!" she said, recalling Keyflame. She jumped down from the stage just as the announcer called out two more names… one of them was Tristan. 

                "All right!" he said, jumping up from the crowd. 

                "I'd stay and watch you, but I have to get Keyflame to a Pokemon center," Teal said. 

                "I'll go with Teal," Yui said. "Morty, wanna stay here and watch your friend?"      

                "Uh… Sure," he agreed, staying in his chair. 

                "Okay… I'll see you guys later, then," Tristan said, running up on stage with his PokeBall already selected… 

                By the time the girls returned from the Pokemon Center, Tristan's battle was already done and over with. They came just in time to see Tristan recalling his Pokemon, his defeated opponent wandering off the stage. 

                "I did it, Morty!" he said excitedly, running down. "I'm in the quarterfinals!"

                "Go you!" Morty said, rewarding him with one of their traditional high fives. As the girls ran up, Tristan glared at Teal. 

                "I told you I'd be tough competition," he said. 

                "Yeah, well, let's see you follow me into the semifinals," she said. 

                "Just watch me," Tristan said. 

                "Can you see that, Morty?' Yui said. "The sparks flying between them?"

                "I see," Morty laughed. "Don't kill each other, you guys…"

                "We won't," they said at the same time, still glaring at each other. 

                The group hung out in the city for a while, until finally the first announcement for the quarterfinals came up. _"It's time to begin the quarterfinal round of the tournament! Can we please have __Conn__ Wazr and Teal Moonspell to the stage! I repeat, __Conn__ Wazr and Teal Moonspell!" _

_                "Ooh… Conn's a toughie," Tristan said. "I saw him battle in the first round."_

                "I'll beat him," Teal said. "I'd like to see anyone try to stop me."

                She ran to the stage, jumping up and standing on the same side she'd taken before. Her opponent arrived minutes later… it was a young boy with short, reddish-brown hair. He wore a blue T-shirt and stylish orange pants, and a look of pure confidence was spread across his face. 

                "Great! Now, you both know the rules… a one-on-one battle, no tie limit. Call your Pokemon now!" said the announcer, picking up the two color-coded flags; Teal's was red, Conn's green. 

                "I choose Jumpluff!" said Teal, tossing a green-colored PokeBall onto the field with a little twirl. Her Pokemon was a little green plant-like thing, with two cotton balls on its arms, and another on its head. It looked like a little cheerleader. 

                "Scizor, go!" said Conn, releasing his own Pokemon. It was a tall, red mantis, with pincers for hands and thin, clear wings. Teal looked astonished, but still as confident as ever. 

                "Jumpluff! Start things off with a Cotton Spore!" she said. The little Pokemon floated into the air, tossing little tufts of cotton all over the battlefield. A couple of them stuck to Scizor; it tried to shake them off, but they were stuck fast. 

                "Scizor, don't let it bother you! Metal Claw now!" Conn ordered. It sped forward as fast as it could, and swung at Jumpluff with its pincers glowing silver. The carefree Pokemon floated around Scizor's head, laughing as each attack failed. 

                "Come on, Scizor, hit it! Slash attack!" said Conn, annoyed. Scizor took one powerful swing at Jumpluff, knocking it to the ground. Jumpluff bounced and flew back up, injured but still going. 

                "Great, Jumpluff! Now, try your Headbutt!" Teal said. It flew back, and rammed itself into Scizor as hard as it could, doing minimal damage. "Again!" Teal said, "keep going!" Each time it hit, it would be a little stronger, as Scizor was weakening. 

                "Scizor, enough! Use your Razor Blade!" Conn said viciously. The Pokemon slashed furiously at Jumpluff, its claw glowing a fierce red. Jumpluff cried out, but still stayed afloat, trying to keep itself away from the swinging claws. 

                "Jumpluff, give it your Solar Beam!" Teal called. Jumpluff drew in a beam of sunlight from the sky, and fired it at Scizor in the form of an orange energy beam. The Pokemon doubled over and collapsed, motionless. 

                Conn stared, dazed. Finally, he recalled Scizor, gave Teal a thumbs-up sign and took off. Teal smiled, recalling Jumpluff. 

                "Congratulations, Teal, you'll be moving on to the semifinal round!" the announcer said; she simply nodded and dashed off the stage. 

                "I'm so gonna win this thing, you guys!" she said excitedly. "I've never won before!! This is great!" 

                "Go, Teal!" Yui said. Morty smiled, and Tristan… he was staring off into space. Teal glared at him, tapping her foot, but he still didn't reply. 

                "Whatever," she sighed to herself. "Come on, let's go get something to eat!" 

                "We just ate about an hour ago," Morty said. 

                "I know! I'm hungry again!" Teal chirped. 

                "All… right."

                "You guys go ahead," Yui said. "I have some shopping to do. I'll catch up with you guys later."

                "And I'll…" Tristan started; he had snapped out of his little daze. But just as he began to speak, the announcer called him onstage again. "…go and battle my next opponent," he finished. 

                "Okay, we'll all meet back here for Teal's next battle, then," Morty said. Yui nodded before taking off into the crowd, and Tristan left for the stage. 

                "Shall we?" Teal asked, coaxing Morty toward a hamburger stand. She blushed deeply, her face turned away… she was finally alone with him!

                "Yeah, why not," he said, following her. She smiled secretly, and skipped along with Morty at her side… 

                "Hey, you guys!" Yui said, running up to her three friends. Tristan had been victorious in his last battle, and he, Teal and Morty were sitting in front of the stage, watching the last battle of the quarterfinals. Yui sat down next to Morty, putting down a big white shopping bag. 

                "What did you get?" he asked, poking his hand into the bag. Yui smacked his hand away, and closed the bag again. 

                "No peeking," she said. "It's for the talent show." 

                "Oh, you're gonna model," Morty said, his cheeks blushing. Tristan blushed too, but he did a better job of covering it up than Morty did… 

                "No, silly, I'm no model," she said. "It's just… oh, nothing, you'll see!"

                "Okay," he agreed, curiously eyeing the bag. 

                "Ooh! The battle's over!" Teal said. "The green-haired chick won again… Now they're going onto the semifinals!! Ooh! I so can't wait!" 

                The announcer began another of his little speeches,_ "And the battles so far have been great!! Now, in our semifinal round, only six trainers remain! Out of them, only three will go on to the final round… Now, for our first semifinal battle, may we have Teal Moonspell and Tristan Shuster to the stage, please?"_

_                Teal's eyes widened, and she glanced over at her opponent. Tristan's expression was just as surprised as the two of them slowly got up and walked onstage together. _

                "All right, you two, you know the drill! One Pokemon each, no time limit," the announcer reminded them. "Let the match begin!"

                Tristan shakily removed a PokeBall from his belt. "I choose Cyn-chan!" he said. The light formed into a Cyndaquil; the fire on its back blazed brightly, lighting up the field. 

                "Heh… You think you can beat me with that," Teal scoffed. "Jolteon, go!" The lightning Eevee faced the little firey animal, waiting for it to make the first move. 

                "Cyndaquil, lead off with Flamethrower!" Tristan instructed. 

                "Jolteon, don't let it attack you! Thunder Wave!" Teal called quickly. Jolteon shot a chain of electricity at Cyndaquil, countering the flamethrower. Both attacks collided, creating an explosion of flames. When it cleared, both Pokemon appeared pretty hurt. 

                _"That was a powerful Flamethrower," Teal thought to herself. __"I have to watch out for its flame attacks."_

_                "Whoa, that Jolteon has some great Electric powers," Tristan pondered. __"I hope Cyndaquil can pull through…"_

                "Okay, Jolteon, let's try a Pin Missile!" said Teal. 

                "Jolt jolt!" it cried, jumping up and firing a flurry of needles at the little Pokemon. Cyndaquil jumped out of the way of most of them, but he was damaged pretty badly. 

                "Come on, Tristan, my Jolteon's too strong for that little thing," Teal said. "Why don't you call it back before it gets hurt?" 

                "I don't give up so easily," he said scornfully, glaring at her through the angriest eyes she'd seen all day. "Cyndaquil! Flame Wheel!!" 

                "Jolteon!!!" Teal cried, watching her Pokemon get wrapped up in a tornado of flames, bigger and more powerful than she'd ever seen. It cleared away, and her Pokemon lay on the battlefield, so close to fainting. It stood weakly to its feet, eyeing the tiny Cyndaquil with rage. 

                "That's it, Jolteon. No more games," Teal growled. "Zap Cannon." 

                The Jolteon threw its head back; electricity charged in its eyes, sparks flew every which way. The crowd watched in awe as the beam of lightning tore across the battlefield, hitting its helpless target dead-on. A Cyndaquil's cry rang out to be heard even by the people in the very back rows of the audience. 

                "NO! Cyndaquil!" Tristan cried out, clenching his fists in fear and anger. The electric field finally dissipated, and a very dazed Cyndaquil lay fainted in the middle of the arena. 

                "Oh… Return, Cyn-chan," Tristan said. Quickly, he approached Teal, thrusting his arm forward to shake her hand. "That was a great battle, Teal…. But I have to get to the Pokemon center…" 

                With that, he took off running, and Teal smiled proudly at her Jolteon. "That was great, Jolteon, she said, recalling it. "Wow… I made it to the finals. I really made it!!!"

                She ran offstage, happily greeting Yui and Morty, who applauded their friend. 

                "Great job, Teal!" Yui exclaimed. 

                "Yeah… I hope Tristan doesn't feel too bad about losing, though," Morty sighed. 

                "Same here," Teal agreed. "He's a great kid, and a great competitor… If he didn't have to fight me, he would've made it to the finals for sure."               

                "Speaking of the finals," Yui said, "are you ready for 'em, Teal? You're a good trainer, but are you good enough?"

                "I can't lose," she told herself. "Not after coming this far."

                In another hour or so, the finals were announced over the loudspeaker, and Teal was called to the stage along with the other two finalists. They were both girls, which surprised Morty and Tristan. 

                "Here we have our three finalists in this year's tournament," the announcer said, pointing to each girl and announcing their name. "Let me introduce Teal Moonspell!" She waved, blushing, and threw back her bright blue ponytail. 

                "Akiko Kayou!" The green-haired girl that Teal had mentioned earlier smiled brightly, her neon green hair glowing in the sunlight. 

                "And Kitira Mirari!" A girl with dark blue hair smiled rather nastily, not even looking at the other two. Hearing this name, Morty sat up straight, his eyes widening as he stared at the girl. 

                "Kitira Mirari?" he exclaimed. "She's here? Oh no…" 

                "Who is she?" Yui asked with curiosity. 

                "She's… I knew her when I was younger," Morty said. "I cannot stand her… and she isn't too fond of me either. I guess you could call us rivals." 

                "Ooh, did'ya have a bad experience with her or something?" Tristan laughed. Morty's eyes went the size of dinner plates, and he shivered. 

                "Me? With her? No… way… in… hell!" he said strongly. "Ugh… If I ever got stuck in a relationship with… with that thing, I'd personally hang myself."

                "Sounds like she's just as bad as Whitney," Tristan laughed, making Morty literally jump out of his chair.     

                "Do not say that name!" he said. "I hate Whitney White! I hate her, hate her, hate her!!" 

                "Guys, shut up! They're making some kind of announcement!" Yui said. Both boys snapped to attention, partly because they were interested, and partly just because Yui said so. 

                "And now, since there are an odd number of challengers left," the announcer began, "we will draw one of your names randomly. Whoever's name is chosen will go immediately to the last round, and the other two must battle to determine who else goes on. Then, the final two will battle for the big victory!" 

                All three girls watched intently as the three sheets of paper were dropped into the little silk hat. The announcer turned away, and drew a piece of paper…

                "And, congratulations to Teal, who will be moving safely to the final round!!"

                Teal jumped up with a cry of joy; Akiko smiled, and Kitira scowled angrily at both of them. 

                "Now, Akiko, Kitira," the announcer said, "are you ready to battle?"

                "Damn straight," Kitira said, walking to her side of the battlefield. Akiko happily skipped over to her side, already prepared with her PokeBall. Teal just wandered off the stage, and back down to her three friends in the crowd. 

                "Looks like I'm safe for another ten minutes or so," she said, sitting down to watch Akiko and Kitira's battle. 

                "That was so lucky!" Yui said. 

                "If Kitira goes on, and you lose to her, I'll hurt you," Morty said.             

                Teal glared at him. "Excuse me! Is that any way to talk to your friend?" 

                "Kidding, Teal, I was kidding!" he said. "I do not like that Kitira girl… and you will beat her. Understand?" 

                "I get it, I get it!" Teal laughed. "I'll beat up your little girlfriend and walk away with my PokeGear!" 

                Morty cringed. "She's NOT my girlfriend!" he said. "She never was, and she never will be!!" 

                Meanwhile, onstage, Akiko's Butterfree was putting up an awesome fight against Kitira's Murkrow. The two of them were facing off in the air, pecking and scratching at each other. 

                "Come on, Butterfree! Hit it with your Stun Spore!!" Akiko said. 

                "Murkrow, Wing Attack!" Kitira said; but the command came just a second too late. Murkrow was hit with the yellow pollen, and it fell to the ground, its wings paralyzed. 

                "Now, Butterfree, it's your chance! Double-edge attack!"           

                "Freee!" The butterfly swooped down, catching the bird in the side. It cried out once before falling, fainted. 

                "Ugh… Return, Murkrow," Kitira said. "Whatever." She left the stage, and Akiko jumped for joy, hugging her barely injured Butterfree. 

                "Well… Guess I'm up," Teal said, standing once again.              

                "Go, Teal!" Yui said as she climbed the stairs to her side of the battlefield. 

                "Here we are at our final round," the announcer said, building the tension with his suspenseful voice. "The winner will walk away with a brand new PokeGear, and the pride of victory… Are you ready, ladies?" 

                "Ready as I'll ever be," Teal droned, while her overly hyper opponent nodded.     

                "Then… let the match begin!!"

                "I choose Teddiursa!" Teal called. 

                "I call… Bellossom!" Akiko said. Her Pokemon was a tiny, cute little plant, with two huge pink flowers on its head, and a pretty little grass skirt. It danced cheerfully, awaiting its orders. 

                "That's pretty cool," Teal complimented. "Teddiursa, go! Use your Tackle attack!" 

                "Jump out of the way, Bellossom!" Akiko said; Bellossom waved its skirt and danced to the side just as Teddiursa neared it. 

                "Ugh… Try it again!" Teal said. Each time the bear charged at it opponent, all it would do was dance out of the way. Teal was slowly becoming frustrated. 

                "Teddiursa, Slash it!" she called. It swung out, catching Bellossom across the side. 

                "Petal Dance!" Akiko instructed. The little plant swung its skirt around, sending pink petals flying at Teddiursa. It was thrown backward, sliding across the battlefield and stopping at Teal's feet. 

                "Teddiursa, get up!" she said. "Run forward and try your Fire Punch!" 

                "Teddi!" It rushed through the stream of petals, throwing a flaming punch that left the Grass-type Pokemon dazed. Another fire punch sent it flying across the stage to fall fainted at Akiko's side. 

                "Oh, Bellossom!" she cried, picking it up. "You have an amazingly powerful Teddiursa, Teal."           

                "Thank you," she said, recalling it. "Wow… I actually won."

                "Great job, Teal," the announcer said. "Let my present you with this PokeGear… Congratulations for coming in first place in the Dream Town Pokemon tournament!"

                "Thank you!" she said, accepting her prize. Oddly enough, the little computer had a teal-colored faceplate; Teal strung it around her neck, letting it hang proudly. 

                "Yay, Teal!" Yui said, running up onstage to congratulate her friend. Morty and Tristan followed soon after, and the four of them exited the stage area together.           

                "All right, now we need some time to set up the stage, so the Pokemon quiz contest will take place in about an hour," said the announcer. 

                "Great," Morty said. "One hour, and then I get to try for my PokeGear…"               

                "You guys wanna go shopping?" Yui asked. "While I was looking around the city before, I saw a lot of great stores…"

                "Let's go!" Teal said, pulling Yui by the arm and running off. 

                "Oy vey," Morty sighed. "Girls and shopping in the same sentence… I'm scared." 

                "Me too," Tristan laughed. They slowly followed, hoping they wouldn't have to carry too many shopping bags… 

                While the two girls went shop-crazy, Morty and Tristan hung back, looking through a couple of windows, but not paying much attention to anything. Nothing was… interesting enough. Finally, Morty saw something in a shop window that totally captured his attention… 

                "Whoa," he said, pressing his hands against the window like a little kid. "Tristan, check this out!"

                "Cool," he agreed. 

                "Do you think… I should buy it for Yui?" he asked, glancing from his friend to the item. "Would she like it?"

                "I'm sure she'd love you for it," Tristan laughed. 

                "Well, then, it's decided," Morty said, walking through the door of the shop… 

                An hour later, the four headed back to the stage, the girls each carrying a huge bag full of new clothes. The boys had one bag between them… the small item that Morty had picked up.           

                "You guys have no idea how to shop, do you?" Yui laughed, going through her shopping bag again as she sat down. 

                "Guess not," Morty said. "Man, when are they gonna call us up? This tension is making me nervous…" 

                "Well, if it isn't Mortemeo," said a voice from behind him. Morty froze, and spun around slowly to see Kitira standing right behind him. 

                "Don't call me by that name," he said, glaring at her. 

                "Aww, poor Morty… Scared of his first name," she laughed, tossing back her hair. 

                "I'm not _scared of it, I just don't like it!" he said. "What do you want, Kitira?"_

                "I overheard that you're entering the quiz," she said. "Well, I'm not walking away with anything less than first place in this one. So watch yourself, Mortemeo." 

                With that, she walked away, leaving Morty growling under his breath. "Ooh, I hate her…"

                "Mortemeo?" Yui asked. 

                "Yeah. That's my first name," he said. "I hate it. Please don't call me that." 

                "But it's so cute!" she said, blushing. He blushed too, and the two of them seemed frozen in space for a split second… 

                "Could we have all competitors in the Pokemon quiz to the stage, please!" called the announcer, breaking Morty's trance. He smiled at Yui, and started walking toward the stage. 

                "I'll see you later," he said, patting his pocket where he was storing his little gift. He ran to the stage, and took his seat… to his dismay, Kitira grinned evilly and sat right next to him. 

                "You're going down, Mortemeo," she whispered. He frowned, clenching his fist. If she hadn't been a girl, he would have hit her right then and there. 

                "All right, everyone, welcome to the second competition of the day!" the announcer said through his microphone. "Now, I'd like to briefly explain the rules for the quiz. Each of you has a board in front of you, with a pen to write your answers. You'll be asked a question, and all you have to do is write your answer on the tablet. But be careful, because as soon as you answer 5 questions incorrectly, your tablet will shut off and you'll be out of the competition."

                _"Ugh… This is gonna be hard,"  Morty thought to himself. __"Especially with Kitira this close to me…"_

                "First question: Name at least one of Eevee's evolutions." 

                _"Easy one," Morty thought, marking down Espeon, his sister's favorite. __"Of course, they have to start out easy…" _

                "Next question: Which gym leader of the Kanto league currently holds the Cascade Badge?"

                Morty thought for a second, and wrote down "Misty." How could he forget the girl with the mischievous Togepi… 

                The next few questions were fairly easy. He thought he got one wrong, but there was no buzzer to tell you if you were right or wrong… you just had to keep going, never knowing how far you truly were… A couple of people got buzzed out within the first fifteen questions or so. And the questions kept getting harder, and tenser… 

                "What move is contained inside of TM31?"

                This one was easy… This was Shadow Ball, the one that Morty gave out at his gym. He marked it down, a lot of his tension washing away. He looked over at Kitira, who appeared to be having some trouble… he was sure she'd be out soon. 

                "Who is the current gym leader in Dream Town, Tokko?"           

                _"Damnit, we haven't even been to the gym yet…" Morty had no clue… he had to pass. Kitira smiled, marking down her answer… _

                The other contestants dropped out, one by one. Soon, only two remained… Morty and Kitira. Morty was sure Kitira had almost reached her limit… but he was pretty tense himself. One wrong answer could cost him the game, the PokeGear, and his pride. 

                "Next question: What is the name of the Elite Champion Lance's daughter?" 

                Morty's eyes lit up as he saw the shocked expression on Kitira's face. He happily glanced at Yui in the crowd, and scribbled down her name with a tiny heart beside it. At that very second, Kitira's podium blacked out, and she dropped the pen to her side in amazement. 

                "No!" she said to herself. "I can't believe I lost to him!" 

                "Congratulations, Morty," said the announcer, handing over a brand-new PokeGear with a silvery-blue faceplate. "The winner of the quiz competition is Morty Avalon, everyone! Let's give him a big hand!" 

                "Yaaaaaay!" Yui screamed from the crowd, absolutely bouncing out of her seat. "Go, Morty!!"

                "Thanks, Yui," he said, coming down off the stage and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "You helped me win, ya know." 

                She blushed brightly, smiling. "Yeah, I know," she said. "I'm glad." 

                He smiled. "I have something for you, Yui-chan. It's a good-luck present for your performance later today." She blushed even harder as he brought the bag out of his pocket, and took out a black box. He opened it, revealing a gold chain with a red heart-shaped necklace on it. He took it out and fit it around her neck, carefully doing up the clasp. 

                "It's… it's… beautiful, Morty-chan," she stammered, touching it with her palm. "I… I love it. Thank you…" 

                "You're welcome," he said, pushing her hair behind her ears. "It suits you. It's so precious and beautiful, just like you…" 

                "Aww, Morty, you're a sweetie," she said, kissing his cheek. "But I have to go backstage and get ready for my performance. I'll see you guys after the show?" 

                "Yeah…" Morty sighed. "See you later, Yui-chan…" 

                The second she walked away, Tristan and Teal stood on either side of Morty, grinning and nudging him. 

                "Ooh, Morty's putting the moves on the Elite lady," Teal teased. 

                "Now I know why Luna called you a ladies' man," Tristan smirked. 

                Morty blushed deeply. "Shut up, you guys."

                "Why? It's so obvious you're in love with her," Teal said. 

                "You really should come out and say it," Tristan suggested. "You can just tell she feels the same way about you." 

                "Yeah… I know," Morty said. "But… I dunno. I guess I'm just nervous, you know?" he said. "When the time comes when it's destined to happen, it'll just… happen. Then I'll know it's the right time." 

                His two friends blinked, staring at him strangely. "Oh… Kay," Teal said. "If you say so, lover boy." 

                "I do say so," he said. "And don't call me that." 

                "Better than being called Mortemeo, though,' Tristan said. Morty glared over at him, and pushed his glasses down. Tristan came back by snapping his headband. 

                "Ugh…" Morty groaned, sitting down to wait for Yui's performance. "Man, I cannot wait to see what she bought for the show…" 

                Yui sat backstage, staring at the beautiful pendant around her neck. She stared blankly at her reflection in the reddened glass, still seeing Morty's eyes looking into hers. She couldn't stop thinking about him. 

                "Miss Yui?" somebody asked from behind her. "You're on after this next performance, so be ready in about ten minutes, all right?" 

                "Yeah," she said, not taking her eyes off of the charm. She could feel butterflies in her stomach, and she couldn't tell if it was because of nervousness or love… 

                Up on stage, Kitira was putting on a stunning performance, singing some weird Japanese song. Once she finished, she took a huge dramatic bow, and exited the stage. Yui stood up, taking a deep breath. She'd be going on soon… she just hoped her timings would be perfect. 

                It was getting pretty late, and the moon was rising in the sky. _"Perfect time for my performance," she thought, smiling to herself. She whispered to the guy controlling the lights, making a small request. He said it was all right… and started setting up some different lights. Yui wanted to make sure nobody would ever forget her performance. _

                Morty watched intently as they announced Yui's name. He couldn't wait to see her… what she was wearing, what she was going to be doing… he was practically jumping out of his seat. Suddenly, all of the lights on the stage and around went out, and the only light was the dim brilliance of the moon. 

                A light tune started playing, and Yui walked onstage, face turned down with her hair covering her eyes. A single spotlight illuminated her form, and Morty stared at her new outfit. 

                She was wearing a pastel green top with spaghetti straps, which cut off just above her waistline. A dark green chain of bead wrapped around her waist, glistening in the light. Her skirt was a deep green, almost like the grass skirt that a Bellossom wears. It cut off just below her knees, and it rippled with every step she took. Her hair was lined with flowers of all rainbow colors, and she was wearing the heart pendant that he had given her. He was so wrapped up in her, that he almost didn't notice when she started to sing… 

                _Lovin' you is not just luck or illusion_

_                It's in the make-up of our DNA…_

_                It's not by chance, we make the perfect solution_

_                Don't fight it baby, ya know that it's just destiny's way… _

_                Baby lovin' you comes easily to me_

_                It's what I'm livin' for, it's all in the chemistry_

_                Baby lovin' you is how it's meant to be_

_                It's something that is oh so natural to me. _

_                Natural..._

_                Morty watched as she walked up and down the stage, hiding her eyes under her bangs, singing into the microphone. She kept looking in his direction, and he blushed deeply as she continued… _

                _We've got the answers but there's no explanation_

_                We've got each other baby come what may. _

_                It's in the science, it's genetically proven.. _

_                'Coz when you touch me the reaction it just blows me away… _

_                Baby lovin' you comes easily to me_

_                It's what I'm livin' for, it's all in the chemistry_

_                Baby lovin' you is how it's meant to be_

_                It's something that is oh so natural to me. _

_                Natural..._

_                Turn off the light, lay your head next to mine…_

_                Take it slowly… A step at a time._

_                Come on get close… closer to me… _

_                It's all so natural.._

_                It's all so easy to see…_

_                Her voice enchanted him. He followed her every more as she repeated the chorus of S Club 7's "Natural," singing out loud and watching him with eager eyes. As the music faded and she stepped offstage, she touched the heart pendant with the tip of her finger, and blew a kiss into the audience. The guys in the crowd went wild, every one of them thinking, or wishing, that they were the ones on the receiving end of the kiss. But one certain blonde with a cute li'l headband sat there blushing, knowing exactly who the kiss was meant for…_

                The contestants all stood onstage, waiting for the guy to announce the winners. Yui stood nervously, feeling a bit chilly in her little outfit. It was nearly midnight now, and the night air was kind of cold… 

                "Time to announce our winners for this year's talent contest! It was so tough, since we had so many great competitors this year… but our judges have finally come to a decision.

                "Third place goes to Emery Kisaragi and Cole Collins for their hilarious SpongeBob drama… it had the judges laughing for hours, not to  mention the audience!" 

                Two crazy looking guys dressed up like SpongeBob and Patrick stepped forward, bowing in their oversized costumes. They received some consolation prize money, and stood together on the third place podium. 

                "Second place goes to Kitira Mirari, with her dazzling song that she wrote herself!" 

                Kitira frowned, but she stepped up to receive her second prize… she also got some consolation prize money, and some kind of custom PokeBall. 

                "And… First place goes to…" He hesitated, building the tension. Yui and Morty both crossed their fingers… "Yui Kinomoto, for her absolutely amazing performance of "Natural" by S Club 7! Give it up, everyone!"

                Yui cried out with joy as she ran up to the central podium. They hung the PokeGear around her neck… it was a pastel violet, with a transparent dark violet faceplate. She picked it up and looked down at it, staring happily. "My favorite color…"

                "Whoo! Go, Yui-chan!" Morty called from the crowd. She looked up, blushing a bright pink, and got ready to jump down and see him. 

                "Now, all of you, stand still so we can take your photo…" the announcer said, holding up a camera; one of those instant-developing ones. As he snapped the photograph, Yui leapt down, holding her arms out as if she was about to embrace Morty, even though he was still a good distance away. She ran out to the crowd, hugging him affectionately as Teal and Tristan congratulated her. And when the picture came out, it showed Yui in mid-air, arms spread wide, and Kitira with the most annoyed face she'd put on all day… 


	7. Badge of Memories

**_Yui's Journey – The Tokko Adventures_****__**

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**_Chapter 7 – Badge of Memories _**

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**_                Yui, Morty, Teal and Tristan stayed up until the small hours of the morning, partying and dancing under the moonlight. Teal and Tristan were continually watching Yui and Morty, but nothing too exciting happened. They danced with each other, but that's about as close as they got all evening. Finally, at about 4:30 in the morning, they all took off for the Pokemon Center to get some well-needed rest. _**

            The next morning, Yui finally changed out of her fancy outfit into a normal light blue shirt and white skirt; she kept the heart pendant and PokeGear around her neck. Morty wore a pair of black jeans, with a black T-shirt that read "Ecruteak City Gym" on the front; his PokeGear was clipped to the side of his jeans next to his PokeBalls. Teal was wearing a red shirt that cut off above her belly button in the shape of a triangle, and light blue jeans with small silver beads lining the bottom; she wore her PokeGear around her neck, and for once her hair wasn't in a ponytail. Tristan wore a white T-shirt and a normal pair of jeans. 

            "Come on you guys!!" Yui shouted, bouncing around the Pokemon Center's lobby. "Hurry! I'm ready to go, I wanna win my badge!" 

            "How can you have so much energy?" Teal asked in amazement. "We hardly got any sleep last night!!"

            "So?" Yui questioned, looking at her friend strangely. "I'm just naturally energetic… I guess." 

            Teal smiled, and looked behind her to see where the boys were. Tristan was in the middle of cleaning up his sleeping area, and Morty was off somewhere… probably the washroom. "So Yui…" she said, narrowing her eyes. "What's up between you and Morty now?" 

            "Wha? N…Nothing," she replied, her cheeks reddening. 

            "Sure," Teal smirked. "The two of you were dancing cheek-to-cheek yesterday after the talent show… Wasn't that cute?" 

            "So precious and beautiful… just like you!" Tristan laughed in his best Morty impression.  

            "You GUYS!! Shut UP!" Yui snapped, turning away. "It's not like that!!"

            "Whatever you say," Teal said. 

            "What? What'd I miss?" asked Morty, emerging from a hallway to the back. Yui blushed, and the other two just smiled. 

            "Nothing too important, Morty," Tristan said, zipping up his bag. "Well, I'm ready to go… That is, if it's okay if I come with you guys to watch Yui's match."

            "Sure, it's all right!" Yui said. "I mean, it's not like I can stop you…" 

            "Yay!" Tristan shouted. 

            "Aw, it's not that big of a deal," Yui sighed. "I'm kind of nervous, though… All I have with me are Chikorita, Eevee and Shuckle. I haven't been doing that much training, and I have no idea what kind of gym this is. I don't think I can cut it." 

            "Sure you can," Morty reassured. "Your Pokemon are great! Don't even doubt that for a second!" 

            "He's right, Yui," added Teal. "Your Pokemon can't be strong unless they have your support all the way!" 

            "Well…" Yui thought aloud. "All right. Let's get going to that gym!!" 

            Minutes later, the group found themselves walking towards the doors of the Dream Town Gym. The light blue building wasn't exactly tall, but its width made up for that; it stretched across the length of about five houses. 

            "It looks… nice," Yui said, staring nervously. _"Oh why, oh why do I get this feeling every single time we go to a gym?" _

            "Yeah… But I don't think we can get the badge if we don't go in," Teal said. 

            "Oh…" Yui's face flushed, and she slowly stepped up and opened the door. As she walked inside, a familiar scent wafted under her nose. 

            "Smells like…" she pondered as she sniffed the air, "chlorine."

            "Yeah, I smell it too," Tristan commented. "Must be a Water gym."

            "Hello!" said an overly cheery voice. "Welcome to the Dream Town Gym!" 

            "Uh… Hi," Yui said, looking up at the violet-haired girl behind the front desk. 

            "Are you all here to challenge the gym leader today?" she asked, a huge smile pasted across her face. 

            "Not them… Only me," informed Yui, raising one eyebrow at the lady's perkiness. "I'm Yui… Yui Kinomoto."  

            "That's fine," she chirped. "You all may enter through the doorway on your right, but I'll ask you to leave your footwear here at the door. We don't want the pool floor to get dirty, you see." 

            "Right…" Yui sat down and took off her rainbow-colored sandals. The rest of her group left their shoes as well, and Yui led them down the misty blue hallway. 

            _"Oh man oh man oh man… I'm really getting worked up now," she thought to herself. __"This is going to be so hard…" _

            Lost in thought, Yui kept walking, and crashed face first into a solid blue door. "WAH!" she exclaimed, jumping back. "Where'd that come from?" 

            "Don't be silly, Yui," Morty said softly. "Come on… this probably leads to the battlefield."

            "Great," she said so silently that only she could hear. She pushed open the doors, and came face to face with one of the largest pools she'd ever seen. The water was crystal-clear, and it sparkled with sunlight that blazed through the ice-blue sunroof. Yui's eyes lit up. "This is… so pretty!" she exclaimed. 

            "Thanks! I'm glad you like it!!" said another voice. The group directed their attention to the water, where a girl floated with her Pokemon, a dark blue Golduck. The girl herself had neon pink hair streaked with ocean blue, and she wore a blue-violet bikini with a diamond-like pattern. 

            "I really like it… It reminds me of the pools back at home," Yui replied. "Oh yeah… My name's Yui; I'm a Pokemon trainer from Indigo. And these are Morty, Teal and Tristan, my friends." 

            "Hello!' the girl greeted politely. "My name is Viola. I'm the Dream Town Gym Leader."

            "I figured that," Yui said. "So… Are you accepting challenges right now?"

            "Of course I am, silly!" she bubbled. Her voice was almost even more energetic than the lady from the front desk's… But it was much less chirpy and annoying. "But before we battle, I'll go and change into my appropriate gym clothing… Do you mind the wait?" 

            "No, it's fine," Yui said. _"The longer I wait, the better…" _

_            "All right… I'll be back as soon as I can!" Viola said, climbing up and out of the pool. She held up a ball that almost looked like stained glass. It was colored with shades of blue and violet that bled together in a pretty design. "Return, Golduck." _

            "Gol!" the Pokemon cried as it was pulled into the ball through a wave of colorful energy. Viola scampered off into another room, and Yui let out a breath she hardly knew she was holding. 

            "I am… so nervous…" she stammered, looking out at the water. "My Pokemon aren't going to be able to battle in this…" 

            "It does look difficult," Teal commented. Sure, there were platforms and floating mats in the water, but most of them were either small, or unstable. 

            "Or course… Gyms and their battlefields are usually built to test the wits of the trainers and Pokemon," Morty said. "Take my gym, for example. To get to the battlefield, you have to walk over an invisible path… and the arena itself is dark, and lit with strobe lights and blacklights; the perfect atmosphere for my Ghost-types."

            "Wow… I don't even want to try to go up against that," Yui said. "But I still don't know. What if my Pokemon can't do this?" 

            "That's probably exactly what they want you to think," Tristan added. "But don't worry about it… You can do it, Yui." 

            "I hope so." She finished speaking just as Viola came out from the changing room; she was wearing a green tank top, with fringes hanging down from the bottom. Her skirt was the same, light green with fringes falling from the rim. Her hair was pulled back in a big puffy ponytail. 

            "I'm ready," she announced, standing on the opposing side of the pool.

            "Great," Yui said, stepping to her side. "So am I." 

            "All right!" said the violet-haired lady, entering the area through a door at the side. Yui jumped at the new voice, but composed herself quickly. "This match is between Yui Kinomoto, and the Gym Leader, Viola Curtis. There will be no set time limit, and the Leader will choose the amount of Pokemon used. 

            "Is a three-on-three all right?" Viola asked. 

            "Fine with me," Yui retaliated. 

            "All right then, the referee said, holding up two flags; purple for Yui, and aquatic blue for Viola. "Begin the match!" 

            "All right… I'll lead with Shuckle!" Yui called. The Shining Pokemon came out of its ball and stood on one of the shaky pool mats, struggling to stay in place. 

            "Shuckle has the least advantage against Viola, since Chikorita is strong against Water-types, and Eevee can probably swim," Teal pondered. "So she's saving her best for last."

            "Go, Slowpoke!" Viola said, tossing out a PokeBall with a blue tint. Her Pokemon was a pink creature with a strange, tired look on its face. It took one look at Shuckle, and yawned loudly. 

            "It's cute," Yui said, "but it looks a little worn out…" 

            "Don't worry about my Slowpoke," Viola smirked. "In a minute, you'll have to worry more about your Shuckle. Slowpoke, Water Gun!" 

            "Slooow," the Pokemon yawned, blasting a beam of water at Shuckle. It stumbled, and quickly jumped away onto a more stable platform. 

            "Oh man… Shuckle, try your Strength attack!" 

            Shuckle pulled itself into its shell, and somehow shot itself at Slowpoke, hitting it directly between the eyes. Slowpoke fell back into the water, and Shuckle landed shakily where it had been standing. 

            "Slowpoke! Quick, jump out of the water and use your Bubblebeam!!" Viola instructed. With a huge splash, Slowpoke proved itself to be anything but slow. It jumped onto a platform, lowered its head and sent a stream of bubbles exploding around Shuckle. It fell, splashing into the pool, its weight pulling it down. 

            "Shuckle!" Yui cried out. "I can't recall it! It'll never make it!" 

            "Slowpoke! Get down there and bring it up!" Viola snapped out the command, her eyes full of worry. The pink Pokemon shot down, catching the purple shell in between its stubby front legs, and carried it gently to the surface. Yui recalled it instantly. 

            "Oh man… Poor Shuckle," she sighed, replacing the PokeBall on her belt in exchange for a second one. "I choose you, Eevee!"            

            "All right, Slowpoke, get ready," Viola said, watching the brown foxlike Pokemon land across from hers. 

            "Eevee! Swift attack!" Yui instructed. The little Pokemon jumped up, spinning around as a flurry of shining golden stars flew forward, hitting Slowpoke and knocking it backwards into the water. It shot back out, shaking itself dry. 

            "Come on, Slowpoke, hit it with a Water Gun!" called Viola. 

            "Eevee, get out of the way! Jump into the pool!" Yui said. Eevee just barely avoided the stream of water flying at her; she plunged into the warm water, paddling to keep herself afloat. Slowpoke jumped in after her, firing jets of water, but Eevee evaded each one. Finally, one made contact with the back of Eevee's head, sending her almost flying into the edge of the pool. 

            "Eevee, jump up and Slam down on it!" Yui cried. 

            "Vee!" She flipped up and out of the water, spiraling down toward Slowpoke and hitting it smack dab on the forehead. Water splashed around as both of them were pulled underwater; seconds later, Slowpoke floated lifelessly to the surface with a triumphant Eevee sitting on its head. 

            "Return," said Viola, pulling Slowpoke back and letting Eevee splash into the water. She took a PokeBall from her belt and smirked as she held it up. "Go, Xatu!" 

            Yui's eyes went wide, as did Eevee's and everyone else's. "Xatu?" Teal exclaimed. "But that's not a Water-type!" 

            "This is not just a gym for Water-types," Viola said, still smirking. "This is a Water and Psychic gym. I guess we should have told you." 

            "Yeah, it would have helped," Yui said semi-angrily. "Eevee, get it! Use Bite!" 

            _'Oh, great,' Viola thought to herself, __'I didn't know it knew Dark-type moves…' Eevee bit down on Xatu's wing, seemingly doing a lot of damage to the totem-like bird Pokemon. It cried out and retaliated by pecking at it with its beak, shaking Eevee off of its wing. It bounced off one of the platforms, landing in the water with a splash. _

            "Eevee! Jump out and slam that bird into the water!"

            "Xatu! Use Psychic to keep that Eevee in the water!" 

            Eevee shot out of the pool, aiming itself for the center of Xatu's body. Just as it would have made contact, a flash of violet light sent her spinning right back down into the water. 

            "Eevee, no! Try it again!" Yui commanded. 

            "Good! Now keep using Psychic to make a whirlpool!" Viola called out. Eevee soon became trapped in the spiraling waters, and Yui immediately whipped out her PokeBall and recalled it. 

            "I don't need my Eevee nearly drowning too," she said softly, looking down at Chikorita's PokeBall. 

            "Good move," Viola said. "Are you going to call your last Pokemon? Or do you want to call it quits instead?" 

            "No way," Yui announced, releasing her last PokeBall as it broke open with an explosion of light. "Chikorita, go!" 

            "Chiko!" cried the confident little Pokemon, looking angrily up at Xatu. 

            "Chikorita," Yui said softly. "You're my last hope. Are you ready?" 

            "Chika!" She jumped out into the pool and paddled out to a platform, staring up at the bird Pokemon that was flying around the battlefield. 

            "Okay, Xatu, get it!" Viola instructed right away. "Dive down and tackle it!"

            "Chikorita, jump out of the way and use Razor Leaf!" Chikorita jumped, narrowly avoiding the attack; she swung her leaf in a full circle, producing razor-sharp leaves that cut across Xatu's body. It kept going with its own attack, crashing into the platform as the leaves struck it down. 

            "Xatu!" Viola called. "Get up!"

            "Chikorita, now's your chance to get it!" Yui cried. "Headbutt, now!" 

            "Chiko!" she cried; she was Yui's last chance for the win. For her trainer, she would not lose. She rushed forward, knocking the Pokemon away with a swift ram. Stars filled the Xatu's eyes as it landed on another platform. Viola recalled it, and brought out her final PokeBall… The transparent blue and violet ball. 

            "Okay, Golduck," she said. "Let's finish this." 

            _"Eep…" Yui thought to herself. __"Hopefully the Grass/Water advantage will pull through for me…" "Chikorita, quick before it attacks! Razor Leaf!" _

            The Pokemon 'chikoed' in agreement, twirling its leaf. The leaves flew at Golduck, who simply knocked them away with a flick of its wrist. 

            Yui gasped, choking on a breath. _"How…?" _

_             "Okay, Golduck," Viola said with a smirk. "Ice Beam." _

            "Wah! Chikorita, get out of the way!!!" Yui shouted. Chikorita jumped, just barely missing the beam of frozen liquid headed its way. 

            "Try again!" instructed the Gym Leader. "Rapid fire, Golduck!" 

            "Chikorita!" Yui cried, watching as the barrage of ice overcame her small Pokemon. She stepped out, still up and kicking; but the leaf on her head was frosted over, and completely stiff. By the looks of it, it would be nearly impossible for her to pull off any of her special attacks. 

            "Chiko…" she sighed, trying to wave her frozen leaf around. It stuck out in front of her face, and she stared at it, her lip trembling. Anything… but her precious leaf. 

            "Chikorita…" Yui sighed. She help up her PokeBall, letting her head fall. "Maybe it's best if you come back." 

            "Rita!" shouted Chikorita, shaking her head no. 

            "What?" Yui squeaked. "You're going to… keep going?" 

            "ChiKO!" Chikorita demanded, turning to face the Golduck. She glared at it through narrowed eyes, growling silently to herself. 

            Viola blinked, watching the persistent little Pokemon. "All right Golduck, finish it!" she shouted. "Give it your all! Blizzard!" 

            Yui lunged forward, almost falling into the water. "Chikorita!" she yelled over the light wind that had started to blow indoors. "Please! You have to return!" 

            "Chiko…" Chikorita stood against the oncoming attack, lowering her leaf so that it faced up at the sunroof. Rays of sunshine blazed through, and slowly she absorbed them. As she did, the frost on her leaf began to slowly drip away into the water, and her leaf shone a solar orange color. "CHIKO!" 

            The Chikorita's cry was followed by an orange beam of energy that cut through the Blizzard and hit Golduck dead-on. It cried out, falling back into the pool. Viola jumped back in surprise. 

            "Holy cow!" she exclaimed. "That was awesome!" She recalled Golduck, and made her way to the other end of the arena. "How long has your Chikorita been developing that Solar Beam?" 

            "Um…" Yui just stared at her Pokemon, dumbfounded. "She's never known Solar Beam before. I think she just learned it."

            "Wow…" Viola said in pure awe. "That was an excellent battle… And on account of your victory, I reward you with this badge." 

            She reached into her pocket, bringing a badge from inside and placing it in Yui's hand. It was a small square-shaped mirror, surrounded by light blue fringes. Looking into her hand, Yui could see her own surprised face staring back at her. "This is the Memory Badge," Viola told them. "Whenever you look at it, I hope you have memories of the things you've accomplished."

            "I'm sure I will," Yui said with a smile. She pinned it on the corner of her shirt, next to the Shock Badge. Ever since she had won that first badge, the first thing she would do after getting changed in the morning was pin it on her shirt. It was very precious to her… and now she had two memories to hold. 

            Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around her waist. Yui looked up to see Morty smiling down at her. "Nice battle," he said. "Your Chikorita's awesome!" 

            "Thanks," she said, leaning up against him. 

            "Ooh, how adorable!" Viola giggled. Morty and Yui's eyes shot open, giving her looks as if to say "WHAT?!?" 

            "Oh, yeah," Teal laughed. "They're the cutest couple in the world…" 

            "Okay, that's it," Morty laughed, jumping at Teal. He caught her by the collar of her shirt, and tossed her into the pool with one quick motion. Yui laughed as her friend came up for a breath, looking very annoyed and wet, like a cat that was being forced to take a bath. 

            "Morty… You stupid baka," she said in a monotone. 

            "Heh… I won't comment, then," Tristan laughed. "I don't want to be thrown into the water too…" 

            Teal shook some water out of her long hair as she climbed out of the pool. "Can we get back to the Pokemon Center now?" she asked. "Thanks to Morty, I'm freezing and my clothes are wet…" 

            "Yeah, sure," Yui said, admiring her new badge again. "Thanks, Viola," she finished as her Chikorita jumped up onto her shoulder. 

            "You're very welcome," said the Gym Leader, waving to the group as they left the gym. "And good luck on the rest of your adventure!!" 

~To Be Continued…~ 

            **A/N: Well, here it finally is! Chapter 7! ^^ I sure took my sweet time on this one, didn't I? But I just couldn't THINK of anything… But it's here, and I must admit that I liked it. It was fun to write, as the rest of the story will be… Heh. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, and look out for Chapter 8!!!**


	8. On Wings of Silver

**_Yui's Journey – The Tokko Adventures_****__**

****

**_Chapter 8 – On Wings of Silver_**

****

**_                "Avalon…" Teal sighed as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail, "you're dead." _**

            "What?" Morty questioned innocently. "I didn't do a thing…" 

            "You know exactly what you did!!!" Teal shouted at him, holding up her soaking wet red shirt. "This is my favorite shirt, and now I can't even wear it!" 

            "Hehe…" Morty sweatdropped as Teal went on to lecture him further. Tristan and Yui sat at the other end of the Pokemon Center; Tristan was playing with Chikorita and Yui was examining her new badge. 

            "I can see myself in it!" she laughed, fluffing her hair. 

            "That's usually what mirrors do," Tristan said.  

            "Kee!" Yui simply squeaked. Tristan looked at her strangely, and went back to petting Chikorita's leaf. "So, Yui, what are you going to do tomorrow? Are you going to head out to the next city?" 

            "Not yet, actually," she smiled. "I was actually hoping that the four of us could go shopping around the city…"

            "More shopping?" Tristan exclaimed. "I can hardly contain my excitement." 

            Yui smiled. "You don't have to come if you don't want to! Where are you planning on going after you leave this city, anyway?" 

            "I'm not actually sure," he sighed. "I might just stick around the Tokko area, and explore a bit…"

            "Sounds cool," Yui said, lying down on the couch. "But, I guess we should all get some sleep if we're planning on going anywhere tomorrow… Teal? Morty? Are you guys done resolving your little argument?"

            Teal, however, wasn't quite ready to turn in. "I don't know what gave you the stupid idea to throw me in the water in the first place!" she barked at a very confused Morty. "You know, you're not much of a gentleman!" 

            Morty blinked. "Was I supposed to be?" he asked.

            Now it was Teal's turn to blink aimlessly. "…Good NIGHT, Morty," she finally said, storming away from him. She took her place on the couch under the front window, and curled up, her back turned away from everyone. 

            "What's wrong, Teal?" Yui asked, snuggling underneath her own blanket. No response came from her friend, and Yui sighed, allowing Chikorita to crawl under the covers. 

            "What… did I say?" Morty asked himself. "I was just kidding around…" 

            "I'm not sure," Tristan said. "She sure does get touchy sometimes."

            "Aw, let her sleep, you guys," said Yui. "I don't think I'd like to be thrown into that water either…" 

            "Yeah, you're right," Morty finished, looking around the room. "Hey… Wait a second. There are only two couches. Where are Tristan and I supposed to sleep?" 

            Tristan laughed, and dived for the big fluffy armchair by the phones. He stuck his tongue out silently at his friend as Morty settled himself in another chair. Not quite as fluffy, but comfortable nonetheless. 

            Yui and the two boys fell asleep right away, but Teal was still lying awake, staring at the back of the couch. Her heart was burning inside; she wanted to scream, but she help it in. _"Stupid Morty," she thought to herself, pulling the blankets tighter around herself. __"How could I have ever liked him? He obviously doesn't care about me at all… There's no use in thinking we'll ever be together." _

_            The next morning, Teal was the last one to wake up. When she opened her eyes, she saw Morty sitting on the couch next to Yui, talking to her while she packed her bag. Chikorita was obviously morning-friendly, because she was sitting atop Tristan's head, 'Chiko-ing' randomly at him as he attempted to pull her away. Slowly, Teal got up, picked an outfit out of her backpack and walked off to get changed. _

            "Good morning!" Yui said as she walked by. Teal waved to her without bothering to look up as she disappeared into the back. Yui sighed again, leaning up against Morty. "She really seems out of it," she said. "I hope she's not too angry at you." 

            "Same here," Morty said. "I'm sure it'll be fine. She can't stay mad at me forever, right?"

            "Who could?" added Tristan, who had just succeeded in removing the hyperactive Chikorita from his head. "Come on, Morty, you're everyone's best friend." 

            "Okay, that's overdoing it a bit," he said. "There are some people that dislike me, you know." 

            "Although it's hard to believe, it is true," Yui laughed. "Like Kitira…" 

            "Especially Kitira," Morty groaned. "I hope she's out of the city by now." 

            "Oh, so you did hear me talking about staying in the city a bit longer today," said Yui. "It's okay with you if I do a bit more shopping?" 

            "I have no problem with it!" he replied. 

            "Neither do I," said Tristan. "

            "Okay then," said Teal, who had just stepped out from the back. "Let's hit the malls!" She was looking particularly energetic in a white T-shirt and blue shorts, and her hair was tied back in a sporty ponytail. 

            Yui blinked once, but she decided not to ask where the change in attitude came from. "Sounds great!" she exclaimed, jumping up. Chikorita was immediately at her side, following with equal enthusiasm. 

            "Yeah…" Morty agreed. He and Tristan followed the two energetic girls out of the Pokemon Center, both with the same thought in their heads: _"This is going to be a long day…" _

_            ~*~*~_

            It had only been an hour, and Yui and Teal were already carrying three shopping bags each. Yui had "accidentally" gotten into her dad's bank account, and, well… yeah, you can pretty much guess that she was taking complete advantage of this. She had already purchased an expensive pink kimono from a small Japanese clothing shop, and was looking in the direction of a store that sold imported chocolates. As for Teal, her account didn't seem to be limited either. 

            Finally, the chocolate shop got to be too tempting for Yui to pass up. She shoved her bags into Morty's arms, and ran off in its direction at light speed with Chikorita in tow. Teal laughed, and passed her bags off to Morty as well. "Here, can you watch these for a second?" she at least had the courtesy to ask. "I'm just gonna go check out that pet shop…" 

            "Sure," Morty sighed monotonously, his shoulders drooping as she walked off. "How in the world do I get myself into these things?"

            "I guess that's what you get for going shopping with two girls," Tristan laughed. 

            "Think it's funny?" Morty asked, handing a couple of the bags to him. "Then you can help me." 

            Teal stood by the window of the Pokemon pet store, admiring the baby Eevees, Growlithes and Meowths playing in the window. "They're so cute!" she said to herself, pressing her palms against the window. "I'd buy one, but these are house pets, not Pokemon for PokeBalls and training… But it wouldn't hurt to get a closer look!" 

            She reached out for the door handle and walked in… just as someone else was about to walk out. Unable to stop in time, she crashed right into him, and both of them fell to the ground. The other person's bags (which contained some kind of bird food) dropped to the ground, and without looking up, Teal scrambled to pick them up. 

            "I am so sorry," she said, scooping the items back into the bag. "I had no idea you were there. That was completely stupid of me." 

            "Hey, don't worry so much about it," said a male voice. Teal looked up to see a boy about her age; he had his dark blue hair clumped over his right eye, and the eye that she could see was sky blue in color. "I should have been watching myself too." 

            "Um…" Team stammered, finding that a blush was coming to her cheeks. "No, really. It was all my fault. 

            She handed him his bag and he stood up, helping her to her feet. "No, don't worry," he repeated. "It's no big deal."

            "You're sure?" she confirmed nervously, looking down so he wouldn't see her flushed cheeks. 

            "I'm sure," he laughed, stretching his arm toward hers. "I'm Falkner." 

            "Teal," she said, shaking his hand. "Wait… Do you mean the Johto Gym Leader, Falkner?" 

            "Yeah, that's me," he sighed. "I'm sure I've heard the name Teal before…" 

            "Oh…" she breathed. "No, I'm nothing special…" 

            "Oh yeah! A girl named Teal won the battling competitions the other day! That was you, right?" 

            Teal's eyes widened, pleased at the thought that he'd remembered her. "Yeah," she said softly. 

            "I thought so… You were great up there," Falkner commented. "So… Doing a little shopping, I see?" 

            "Yeah," she replied. "Um, do you want to join us? My friends and I, I mean?" 

            "Sure," he laughed, "that'd be great. Where are your friends?" 

            Teal quickly turned and started jogging back to where she'd left her group. "This way," she called, "follow me!" 

            "You got it," Falkner said, sprinting after her. 

            They returned just as Yui was taking her bags back from Morty. She was holding a big circle-shaped box of chocolates, offering some to the boys. Teal skipped up and took two, offering one to Falkner as he stopped in front of her. 

            "Thanks," he said, catching his breath. "Hey, people I don't know. Hey Morty!" 

            "Falkner" Morty questioned. "What… the heck? Why are you all the way out here?"

            "I could ask you the same question," he said. "Actually, Matt dragged me down here for the competitions, and I decided to stay for a bit after that."

            "I just followed her," Morty explained, motioning to Yui. 

            "Hi! I'm Yui," she said. "I know you. You're another gym leader person!" 

            "Yeah, he is," Tristan said. "Come on Falkner, you should remember me. I beat you a while ago." 

            "Oh yeah," Falkner said, narrowing his eyes. "Tristan, right? Now I remember you." 

            "Took you long enough," he joked. 

            "Hey, is it okay if Falkner hangs out with us today?" Teal asked. "I figure I owe it to him, since I knocked him over…" 

            "There's nothing wrong with it," Yui said. 

            Teal's eyes practically lit up with happiness. "Yay!!" she exclaimed. 

            "Kee, Teal!" Yui cried suddenly, breaking her little moment of happiness. 

            "WHAT, Yui?" 

            "Look! Shirts on sale, three for fifteen bucks!!!" Yui screeched. 

            "No way! Let's get 'em before they're sold out!" Teal screamed just as loudly. The tow took off running, leaving Chikorita, Morty, Tristan and Falkner in their dust. 

            Falkner blinked. "I should have expected this," he said; the two others nodded, and Chikorita tilted her head confusedly, trying to figure out what was so special about a bunch of shirts… 

            ~*~*~

            "So… You like this Falkner guy, huh?" asked Yui, pushing through the shirt rack and picking out almost every purple shirt that was there. 

            "What?!?" Teal exclaimed. "I… I guess you could say… Um… Yeah. I do." 

            "I knew it!" Yui said with a mischievous smile. "We should drag him along with us… That way, I can play matchmaker and get you two together…" 

            "That's crazy!" Teal exclaimed. "There's no way…" 

            "Don't even start saying that!" Yui cut her off mid-sentence, "of course he likes you! It's obvious!" 

            "It is not…" she said, looking down. "He'd never…" 

            Yui interrupted her again: "Oh, someone's blushing!" she giggled. 

            "Yui, shut up!" Teal laughed. She picked up a blue t-shirt… just as Yui was reaching for the same shirt. "Hey, no. I saw this first."

            "No, I did." 

            "No, I did!!" 

            "Me!" 

            "ME!!"             

            ~*~*~

            The day was ending, and the girls were (surprisingly) almost all shopped out. Morty was carrying at least eight shopping bags, all Yui's, and she still had four of her own to hold. The same went for Falkner, who had been given the job of carrying Teal's stuff around. The group had also met up with Akiko, one of the girls from the competition. She was talking with Tristan, the two of them hanging back from the others a little.

            "This was fun," Teal yawned, stretching out her arms. "I'm ready to go to sleep…" 

            "And head out to the next city first thing in the morning?" Yui asked enthusiastically. 

            "Sure, why not," Teal said. 

            "Where are you off to next?" asked Falkner. 

            "The next city with a gym is called Sky Town," Yui informed, "but Prof. Willow said it's kind of hard to get to…" 

            "Not really, if you know how," Falkner said, his eyes lighting up at the mention of the city. "I'll stick with you guys for now, and help you get there."

            "You will?" Teal cried. "That's great!" 

            "Okay then… It's probably best if we head back to the Pokemon Center now then," Morty suggested. "To get a good sleep, and have a fresh start tomorrow morning."

            "I agree," Yui said, walking alongside him. "It's right up ahead there! Let's go!" 

            ~*~*~

            That night, at about eleven, the doors of the Pokemon center closed; nobody could leave or enter until morning, unless it was an emergency. Yui and the rest of the group were already fast asleep… except for restless little Teal. She sat awake, staring around the room… mostly at Falkner. She thought about what Yui had said… _"Of course he likes you! It's obvious!!" Was this actually true? Or was her friend just trying to help her feel better? She couldn't decide… Yui had done an excellent job of concealing her emotions in her voice when she had said that. _

            Finally, she gave up on thinking, and decided to move on to more important matters… like getting some sleep for the next day. She turned over on her pillow, letting her eyes slip shut… and was promptly brought back to reality by a crash coming from the roof of the Pokemon center. Jumping to a sit, she looked up at the roof, as if trying to see what was up there. 

            "Oh, great…" she thought aloud to herself. "Just my luck, it's probably a couple of thieves trying to break into the center." She sat back, frustrated, but another thought ran through her mind… _"Come on, Teal! Are you really going to sit here and let some creeps break in and steal your friends' Pokemon? Do something!" _

_            She hesitated, the other half of her mind fighting back. "I can't," she was speaking out loud again, "what if I can't do anything about it?" _

            _"Of course you can do something about it! You beat Akiko for the championship! You won the competition! You know you're a strong trainer!" _

_            "Yeah, but…" It was almost like she was having an argument with herself. "Okay, I'll go. I just hope this isn't a stupid decision…" _

            ~*~*~

            Since the doors were locked, Teal's only alternative was to climb out through the sunroof… that was a stupid idea in itself, but she didn't give up that easily. She got a ladder from the back room and climbed up, carefully pushing the glass covering aside as she climbed out onto the roof. There was a small breeze blowing, but it didn't bother her too much. She pulled herself to a stand, and started looking around. 

            "I don't see anyone," she said to herself, shielding her eyes from the wind. She then heard a faint Pokemon cry… Almost like a bird call. Teal rushed forward to see a nest full of baby Pidgeys; the nest was behind the chimney, which was blocking the oncoming wind, so they were pretty much safe. They still looked distressed, however; they were chirping furiously for no given reason. Teal knelt down beside the nest and started petting the feathers of one of the smaller Pidgeys. 

            "Aww, it's okay, don't cry," she cooed softly. "This wind will die down soon. You can fly away then… If you even know how." She smiled weakly, and stood up. "I should get going though," she said, whether it was to herself or to the Pidgeys. "It's strange, though," she looked down at the nest again, "if you guys are the only things up here, what made that banging sound earlier?" 

            The Pidgeys suddenly started to chirp even more, reaching their wings toward the sky. A confused look spread over Teal's face, and she looked up to see what the babies were reaching for. 

            It was definitely not something she wanted to see. 

            A Pidgeot was descending on her… Most likely the mother of the children. Teal backed up and turned away, making a run for the sunroof. The Pidgeot caught her collar in its talons and flew away from the building, releasing her over solid ground. 

            "H-hey!" Teal stammered, grabbing at the bird's talons, but she missed her target and fell. She turned her head upward and closed her eyes, not wanting to watch when she landed on the ground. But when she made contact, it wasn't something hard she was sitting on… it was soft, and fluffy, and she wasn't hurt. "What the…" Teal looked down to see another Pidgeot, with a familiar person controlling its flight. 

            "You should be more careful," said Falkner. "Those mother Pidgeots are extremely protective of their young." 

            "Falkner!" Teal exclaimed, jumping into his lap and hugging him. "You saved me! But… How did you know I was out here?" 

            The dark-haired boy laughed, smirking at her. "I was never asleep," he said smartly. "I saw you come out here, so I went out to watch over you… I guess it was a good idea, huh?" 

            "Yeah," Teal sighed as his Pidgeot flew back toward the Pokemon Center. The bird hovered over the rooftop as Falkner deposited Teal on the solid floor, but before he could step down himself, the mother Pidgeot flew forward with an angry shriek, knocking him off of his Pokemon. 

            "Falkner!" Teal cried, running to him. He stood up slowly; his side was bleeding from where the Pidgeot's beak had pressed into his skin, and he looked incredibly weak and tired. "Are you…" 

            "…Fine," he said, mounting his Pokemon once again. The wild Pidgeot was already turning in its flight, coming back to strike again. "Teal, stay low. That thing is really angry… Pidgeot and I have to get it under control."

            "But you're hurt!" she exclaimed, reaching her arm out. "Let me come too!" 

            "No way. It's way too dangerous!" he said, ducking as the Pidgeot flew straight past her head. "Stay here, and stay low to the ground!" 

            "Right…" she said reluctantly, watching Falkner take off into the air. He and his Pidgeot chased after the other one at an extreme speed, Falkner hanging on for his life the whole time. 

            "Pidgeot, come on!" he yelled. "You can catch up to it! Quick Attack!" 

            Both Pokemon cried out as they flew side-by-side, both trying to knock the other out of the air. Suddenly, the wild Pidgeot backed up and flapped its wings rapidly, creating a whirlwind that blew Falkner and his Pokemon way off course. They descended, nearly hitting the ground before coming back. 

            Teal was incredibly tense now. "Falkner, come back, it'll get you killed!" she screamed, tears forming in her eyes. "Falkner!" 

            He ignored her; all of his energy was focused on this battle. "Pidgeot, Steel Wing attack now!" he shouted. His voice was iced over with fury. 

            "Pidgeoooo!" cried Falkner's Pidgeot, its wings glowing with a silver aura. It flew up and struck the opposing Pidgeot, who in turn let out an agonizing cry of pain before plummeting toward the ground. Falkner's Pokemon grabbed it by the collar and slowly carried it toward the roof of the center, placing it in its nest beside its babies. 

            "There," Falkner said, breathing heavily as he jumped onto the roof. Teal immediately ran to embrace him. He recalled his Pokemon and hugged her back, bringing her head to a rest on his shoulder. 

            "You scared me so bad," she cried, clutching at the back of his shirt. "I can't believe you did that!" 

            "Hey, I am a gym leader, you know!" he laughed. "I'm used to tough battles like these." 

            "But… You were right in the middle of that battle! You could have gotten hurt… even more hurt than you already are!" said Teal, smiling weakly. "I was worried!" 

            "But I'm okay now," he said. "And that's all that matters… Right?" 

            "Right," she agreed. "Can we go back inside and talk about this?" 

            Falkner laughed a little, bringing his head down to kiss her cheek. "Sure," he said. He took her by the hand, and directed her toward the open sunroof. "Let's go."

            ~*~*~

            The next morning, Yui was naturally the first one awake. She had been dressed and ready before anyone else was even out of bed, and she had taken it upon herself to wake them all up. 

            "Teal!" she giggled, poking her friend in the shoulder. "Wake up! You're the last one!"

            "What…?" Teal questioned slowly. She sat up and looked around; Tristan and Akiko were cleaning up the areas where everyone had slept, and Morty was having a bit of trouble pulling a shirt over his head. Falkner was just waking up as well. He sat across from them, rubbing his eyes lightly. "Oh… Good morning, everyone." 

            "Mornin'," Falkner said, running his hand along his injured side. "Heh… I slept on it. Ouch." 

            "Oh, no!" Teal said, jumping up and running to his side. "Here, I'll replace the bandages I put on last night." 

            "Ow!" Yui yelped, looking at the wound on Falkner's side. It wasn't deep, but his entire side was red and stinging. "What happened?"  
            "Long story," Falkner said, wincing as Teal rubbed on some medical cream from her little medicine bag. She placed a bandage over the cut, and softly pressed it down. 

            "There ya go, Fal," she said, smiling. 

            "Fal?" Morty asked? "That's a cute nickname. Luna used to call him that when she was going out with him." 

            "Shut UP, Morty!" Falkner snapped. 

            "Luna? Morty's sister that he was talking about?" Teal thought aloud. "You used to date her, Fal?" 

            "Um… Well, you see, it's like this…" 

            "What's the deal, Teal?" Yui said, laughing at her own stupid rhyme. "You two are together now, is that it?" 

            "No!" they both countered at the same time. Teal continued, "It's just that… I was curious! That's all!" 

            "Sure," Tristan said, picking up his bags. "That's what everyone says." 

            "They do make a cute couple!" Akiko exclaimed. 

            "We… do not!" Teal said, her face reddening. 

            "Right," Yui nodded her head sarcastically. "I'm sure you don't. Now, are you guys going to get ready, so we can head out to Sky Town?" 

            ~*~*~

            The group of six stood on the line between Route 51 and Dream Town. Route 51 was one of the many between-city trails in the region of Tokko; it would lead them straight to Sky Town.

            "Yay!" Yui cried. "Let's go! I want to get there by the end of the day!"

            "You guys go ahead," Tristan said with a smile. "I'm going to stay in the city for a bit with Akiko… I mean, I can't just leave her without a shopping buddy!" 

            "Heh, I'm sure that's all it is," Morty joked. 

            "It is," Tristan said. "Now come on Mortemeo, you wouldn't want to keep Yui waiting!" 

            "Yeah," Yui said. "See, at least he knows how to treat a lady." 

            "Oh, whatever," Morty said, flicking Tristan's glasses down his nose. "Don't call me that." 

            Tristan, flustered, pushed his glasses back up as Akiko giggled. "Bye, everyone!" she said. "I hope to see you later!" 

            "Yeah… We'll battle again someday," Teal said, looking into the face of the girl that was one of her biggest rivals in the competition. 

            "Okay, okay! Enough heartfelt goodbyes! Let's go!" Yui laughed. A wave of sweatdrops fell over the group, but they just laughed it off. 

            "See ya later," Tristan said, walking off with Akiko. When the two of them were out of sight, Yui ran excitedly down the trail, laughing all the way. Morty followed her, and Teal and Falkner hung back a bit, talking quietly. 

            "So, Fal," Teal started, "what's the big secret with this Sky Town place anyway? Why is it so hard to reach?" 

            "Well…" he began, as the two of them walked down the path. 

            ~*~*~ 

            At almost this exact moment, Elite Champion Lance was sitting down at his computer, planning to check his files and accounts before getting into the training and paperwork for that day. As he logged onto his bank account, one of his Elite trainers randomly wandered into the room, looking for him. Karen, the master of Dark Pokemon (and the most beautiful girl in the entire League, according to many male trainers…), stopped behind Lance's computer desk and leaned over his shoulder, smiling flirtatiously down at him. "What'cha doing?" she asked brightly. 

            "Just checking my account balance," he replied monotonously. "I have to do some more shopping soon, and I need to know what my limits are for this month…" 

            "I see," Karen breathed, obviously not paying much attention to what he was saying. She was busy staring at the computer screen… or was that at the reflection of the Elite Champion on the monitor? He'd never know… 

            "I think I have to send in my outfit to be cleaned again," he thought aloud. "Unless you'd do it for me, Karen. Dry-cleaning is not my thing…"

            "Well, on one condition," she smirked, throwing her arms around his neck, "I get a new dress." 

            Lance laughed to himself. "Sure, why not," he said. "It all depends on my limits this month, though…. ERK!" 

            Karen stared in confusion as Lance's eyes went wide and he gasped, dropping straight out of his chair. "What's wrong with you?" she asked, helping him back up. 

            "Look," he said, pointing to a spot on the screen. "Someone charged nearly $3500 on my account. All coming from stores in Dream Town." 

            "Er…" Karen wondered aloud, watching Lance fume as he closed the bank account screen. "Was it… who I'm thinking of?"

            "You bet," he said, steaming. "Let me tell you, when my darling daughter Yui gets back from training… she is in BIG TROUBLE!!!"  

            ~To Be Continued…~

            **A/N: Well… Wasn't that chapter fun? Heehee… I like it. It's one of my favorites so far. I think I'm liking how this story is coming out. I've got a lot of ideas ahead, so get ready for some really weird and exciting chapters coming up! Hehe… I'll stop being weird now. Bai-bai!**


	9. Into the Wild Blue

**_Yui's Journey – The Tokko Adventures_****__**

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**_Chapter 9 – Into the Wild Blue_**

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****Teal's eyes lit up at the words Falkner was saying. "You have to be kidding me," she said. "There's no way that a city can just… float above the ground!!"

            Falkner smiled to himself, and laughed lightly at his friend's excitement. "Well, you're right about that," he said softly. "Sky Town is called the 'floating city' because, from a distance, it does appear to be floating in mid-air… But it's really held up by support pillars that are hidden in the city below it."

            "That sounds really cool…" Teal sighed. "How far are we from there?"

            "Not far," Falkner replied. "Actually…" He looked forward, scanning the horizon; "We should be able to see the city just a little further up the path."

            As if on cue, a little shout of surprise came from the pathway in front of them. Yui was jumping up and down excitedly, trying to get Morty to look up at whatever she was seeing. She turned around, motioning to her other two friends as well. 

            "You guys!! Come quick, you have to see this! It's so cool!!" she shouted. Teal ran up as fast as she could, with Falkner right behind her on every step. As she reached Yui's side, she stared up into the sky… and almost fainted in shock. 

            There was Sky Town…Suspended in the middle of the cool afternoon sky. It actually looked like a huge chunk of land just floating there, complete with buildings and small houses on its surface. It was fairly large, and incredibly beautiful. 

            "Whoa…" Teal gasped. "Fal, you were right. It does look like it's floating." 

            "Told ya," he said with a smile. "But look there… If you look really closely at the bottom there, you'll see the little pillars connected to the bottom… That's what holds it up there."

            Yui squinted her eyes. "I see them," she said in a whispering tone. "That's so weird. I wonder how they did that."

            "I don't know that much about it," Falkner started, "but I do know a little bit of the story."

            "So, inform us," said Morty, still staring up at the city in disbelief. 

            "Sky Town started off as a place like Lighting City," began Falkner, "a city on top of a mountain. The mountain was high and steep, so it was really difficult to reach the city. They say that most of the mountain's base was somehow destroyed; they secured the city in the air by creating pillars from what was left of the mountain."

            As Falkner finished his sentence, a strong gust of wind brushed over the heads of the group. Falkner looked up to see the form of a huge Pidgeot; it spun around and landed swiftly on the ground beside them. Now, they could clearly see the color of the Pidgeot's coat; its feathers were a light baby pink, and the ribbon-like feathers on its head were colored with blended shades of light violet and red. A girl was sitting on the Pokemon's back; she patted the feathers on its head gently, and it lowered its head. She easily slid down and walked up to Falkner, smiling. 

            "It seems you've missed out on the key parts to that story, Falkner," she said with a slight wink. "But you're right… at least, in the details you did cover." 

            "Er… Sorry. I guess I missed out on the rest of it," Falkner said shyly. 

            Teal stared from Falkner to the strange girl. "Who's this?" she questioned, eyeing her strangely. The girl had long light brown hair, and a bright sky-blue T-shirt. She wore long, flared pants that were an almost-white creamy-blue color, and beige boots with shimmering sky-blue gems stuck on the front. A silver bangle hung from each of her wrists. 

            "Teal… All of you," Falkner started, motioning to the girl, "I'd like you to meet my best friend, Tori." 

            The girl smiled strongly, and waved. "Hello," she said. "Nice to meet you all."

            "Yeah… Nice to meet you too," said Teal, her face drooping. She slowly gave her name, followed by Yui and Morty. Just as she was going to say 'see you later' to the new girl and ask her friends to keep moving, Yui spoke up; 

            "So, do you know the rest of the Sky Town story?" 

            "Sure do," Tori said, seating herself cross-legged on a patch of grass by the pathway. Her Pidgeot curled up next to her, placing its head down next to his owner's lap so she could pet its feathers. "I'm guessing you want to hear it."

            "Definitely!" Yui exclaimed, jumping to sit right in front of Tori. Morty settled next to Yui, and Falkner jumped to take the spot on Tori's other side. Teal squeezed uneasily between Falkner and Yui, trying not to make eye contact with anybody. 

            "All right," Tori said. "Falkner was correct; the city used to rest on a mountain. It was the highest mountain in all of Tokko; possibly in all of the regions put together. The air pressure in incredibly high up there; at one point, hardly any humans lived up there. Only a few that could handle that kind of pressure stayed up there, building homes for themselves and all the Flying-type Pokemon that lived there."

            "Sounds interesting," Teal commented. "But what about now? How is it that so many people can live there now?"

            "I'm getting to that," Tori said. "When the city was first built, it was said to be the roosting spot of many legendary Pokemon… Beautiful birds, such as the legendary Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, were said to come to the city for no apparent reason. 

            Because of these legends, people came from all over to see the city, hoping to see one of the legendary Pokemon. But not all of them were good people… As the story goes, a band of villains came to destroy the city, and steal the legendary Pokemon. They destroyed most of the mountain before they were taken care of. The city was safe from intruders… but it was almost completely ruined."

            "That sounds a lot like the story of the Burnt Tower in Ecruteak," Morty said. 

            "Yes, I've heard about that," Tori said, her head hanging down. "It's terrible what people will do to get their hands on the legendary Pokemon…"

            Tori stopped, letting her words sink in. Her shoulders slumped, and she sighed; Falkner let out a deep breath as well, watching his friend, and Teal stared aimlessly at the ground. Yui was staring up at the city, her eyes glazed over with a sorrowful look, almost as if she was witnessing the terrible events that had taken place there. Morty watched her, partly shocked; he remembered clearly how she kept talking about some "pretty Pokemon" that she supposedly kept seeing. If she could see a strange Pokemon that nobody else could… who's to say she couldn't see other things as well? 

            "So…" Yui spoke, making Morty jump; "what happened next?" 

            "They used what remained of the mountain, and constructed pillars to hold the city up," Tori said. "They worked for nearly a year on them, making sure they were strong enough…"

            "And the air pressure?" Yui continued. "Teal's right… If there was too much pressure, there's no way people could be living there now!"

            Tori extended her arm to the city, pointing. "Look closely at the air around the city," she said. "Can you see anything strange?" 

            "Of course," Falkner said when nobody else answered. "I've been there enough to know… There's a glass dome over it." 

            Yui, Morty and Teal turned to him, eyes wide in surprise. "What?" Teal exclaimed. "What kind of a glass dome?"

            "It was built over the city after the time of tragedy," Tori answered. "It keeps the air pressure out, and has some sort of device installed to keep fresh air circulating in the city. And it's thick glass, so the pressure can't shatter it."

            "Whee…" Yui said in a frighteningly hyper voice. "Just like Sandy's underwater dome on SpongeBob!!" 

            There were four crashes as four people fell to the ground, anime sweatdrops forming on their foreheads. "Gah… You could say that," Morty groaned. 

            "Actually, it is a decent comparison," Tori said, sitting up. "There's even a similar double-door system for entering and exiting the city." 

            Yui's eyes lit up, but not because of the information she'd just received; "You've watched that show?" she cried. 

            "Sure!" Tori said. "Who hasn't?" 

            "SpongeBob frightens me," Teal spoke up, looking from side to side nervously.   

            "But it's the best!!" Yui protested. "SpongeBob is so cute…" 

            "Er, I hate to interrupt a great argument here, but don't you think we should get to that city?" Morty cut in. 

            "Hehe… It might be a good idea," Teal replied, getting to her feet. "Come on, Falkner, let's go!!" 

            He nodded and stood up, as did the others. "Tori, would you care to join us?" he asked. "You know the route to the city better than anyone." 

            Teal scowled at that compliment. "Sure!" Tori responded; at that, Teal growled under her breath and turned away, pretending to look up at the city. She was feeling not only furious, but hurt… _"So much for what Yui said about him liking me," she thought. __"Apparently he's already found someone else."  _

            "All right, Pidgeot, come on out!" Falkner called. His Pidgeot emerged from his PokeBall, landing next to Tori's pink one; he slowly climbed up and mounted his Pokemon's back. "Ready to go, guys?" 

            "You mean we're flying there?" Morty questioned. 

            "Sure!" Tori said. "How do you expect to get up there; jump?" 

            "Er…" Yui stared from the two trainers and their Pidgeots to the city in the sky, and back again, "Call me crazy… But I don't think all five of us are going to fit on two Pidgeots." 

            Tori sweatdropped again; "You mean to say you don't have any Flying-type Pokemon?" 

            "Not any that'd be strong enough to carry us," Teal said. 

            "Oh," Tori said, "well, that's no problem!!" 

            She smiled, and pulled a silver whistle out of one of the pockets on her pants. The four other trainers watched intently as she put the whistle to her lips and let out a single, long breath. The shrill sound cut through the sky… but was answered with silence. 

            "What's that supposed to-" Teal began, but she stopped when she heard another sound echoing in the air. She looked up toward the city… and saw the huge flock of Pidgeotto, Fearow, Noctowl, and various other Flying-type Pokemon heading in their direction. 

            "Ooh… Cool!!" Yui sighed as the birds descended and landed all around them. "Do we get to ride to the city on these?" 

            "Sure do," Tori replied. "They won't mind… They're all close friends of mine." 

            "So we see," Morty said, stroking the wing of a large Noctowl. "Hey, I think she likes me!" 

            "Wow," Teal sighed in awe, picking out one of the only Pidgeot in the flock. "He's beautiful… I wish I could keep him…" 

            "So I see you two have picked… Yui? How about you?" Tori asked. But Yui didn't seem to hear… She was off in her own little world, staring at one Pokemon; there was only one of them in the whole group, and it looked fairly unfamiliar… 

            "What is this?" she asked, staring at the Pokemon. It was a blue bird that appeared to be surrounded by clouds… All that was visible was its head, and several long feathers that protruded from below the clouds. 

            "That's a newly discovered Pokemon," Tori said. "It's called Altaria." 

            "It's so pretty," Yui said, running her fingers through the cloud. It was cold and thick, like a fog surrounding the Pokemon's body. "Will you take me to Sky Town, Altaria?" 

            "Aahl!" The Pokemon's cry sounded like a delicate whistle. It nodded its head, and allowed Yui to sit on its back. 

            "Heehee!" Yui laughed. "It's cold!" 

            "All right, everyone," Tori said, lifting the whistle again to her lips, "To Sky Town!!" 

            At the sound of the whistle, all the birds took off in complete unison. They ascended above the clouds, flying full-speed toward their home town. 

            "EEK! This is so much fun!" Yui cried, holding on to Altaria's neck. "Whee!!!" 

            "It is really relaxing," Teal commented. "And Sky Town is right up ahead!!" 

            The flock of birds slowed to an eventual stop right above a small platform. Tori and Falkner both recalled their Pokemon and jumped down to the ground, while the other three Pokemon had to land and let their riders slide down carefully. 

            "Thanks, guys," Tori said, blowing the whistle once lightly. "You can go wherever you like now!!" 

            A mess of bird calls and fluttering feathers sounded off as the Pokemon scattered in all directions. Only o few Pokemon stayed behind; one of them was Altaria. Yui petted its head softly, and nodded her head in recognition. 

            "Thanks a lot for bringing me here," she said. "You've helped me a lot. I can't thank you enough."

            "Aahl…" it chirped, smiling slightly. It nuzzled Yui's cheek once, and then took off into the sky, looking back down at the ground every so often. 

            "He liked you a lot," Falkner said. 

            "I'm surprised," Tori said. "Altaria usually doesn't like anyone… It has somewhat of a temper toward new people. I guess that's what comes out of being part-Dragon…" 

            "Wha?" Yui questioned. "That bird was part Dragon?" 

            "Sure! Altaria is a Dragon/Flying type," Tori told her. "It usually has a bad attitude, like some mythical dragon that thinks it's higher than everyone else… but it was different today, especially around you." 

            Yui looked up into the sky; the disappearing figure of Altaria slowly faded into the clouds. She smiled, thinking to herself, _"So I do have the same talent that Daddy has. I can control Dragons…Though I don't think in this situation, I'd call this controlling. I'd say this was developing a friendship…" _

            "Hey Yui, are you coming?" Morty was standing by the door to the city, while the others were already inside a small glass tunnel. Tori was waiting to open the second door. 

            "Oh… Yeah, I am!" she said, realizing at that second that the air pressure surrounding her was pressing at her head. She ran toward Morty and pulled him inside, shutting the thick glass door behind her. He laughed somewhat at her, and walked with her across the tunnel as Tori opened the door, admitting them into the city. 

            "You really liked that Pokemon, huh?" he asked. 

            Yui nodded excitedly. "It was so pretty," she said. "I wish I could train a Pokemon like that…" 

            ~*~*~

            After separating with Tori, Yui and her friends had found their way to the Pokemon Center to spend the night. The next morning, Yui was naturally one of the first ones up, and she took the liberty of awakening all of her friends before getting ready to go to the Sky Town Pokemon Gym. 

            "Ugh… Yui, it's so early," Teal said, watching her insane friend bounce around the room while trying to pull her socks on. 

            "It's only 10:00 in the morning!" Yui said in reply, grabbing a brush from Morty's hand and running to find a mirror. 

            "Uh…" Morty dropped his arm to his lap; Yui had taken the brush when he was in mid-stroke, and half of his hair was still left in tangles. "I take it she's a bit hyper today." 

            "Today?" Falkner questioned, pulling on his light blue jacket. "Name a day when she wasn't hyper." 

            Silence filled the room at that moment; "I thought so," Falkner smirked. Yui ran back in, threw the brush back to Morty, and grabbed her backpack. 

            "You guys are always so slow!" she cried. "Why am I always the first one ready to go?" 

            "Because you're the only one who gets to be excited about collecting badges," Morty laughed. "Well, I'm ready to go." 

            "Go where?" another voice from the doorway chimed in. Everyone turned to the door to see Tori entering the Pokemon Center. 

            "We're going to the gym," Yui said. 

            "I should have known that that's why you were coming to the city," Tori laughed. "Would you like me to take you there?" 

            "Sure!" Yui exclaimed. 

            "You know where it is?" Teal asked? "Do you know the gym leader there?" 

            Tori giggled at that, as did Falkner. "I should hope so," she said. "_I'm _the gym leader there." 

            ~To Be Continued…~

            **A/N: **Yay! ^-^ Chapter 9 is finally here!! Hehe… Do you notice it usually takes me forever to write just one chapter? Hmm, do I have comments on this chapter? Uh… Well, I do like it… It seems a bit rushed, but I like it.. ^-^ I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll have 10 up as soon as I can! Ooh… So close to the ever-awaited Chapter 11... ^_~ Confused? You'll find out soon enough… 

            ~Yui-chan~ ^-^ 


	10. A Sky High Pokemon Duel

**_Yui's Journey – The Tokko Adventures_****__**

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**_Chapter 10 – A Sky-High Pokemon Duel_**

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            Yui stood across the battlefield of the Sky Town Gym, facing Tori, one of her new close friends. Less than half an hour before this, she had found out that this person that she'd allowed herself to get close to was the gym leader… the person she'd have to fight her hardest against. Her three friends, Morty, Teal, and Falkner, stood on the sidelines of the arena, watching both trainers as they gazed at each other. 

            "Don't go easy on me," Yui said, "just because we're friends, and all that…" 

            "I never go easy on a challenger," Tori replied. From the side, Falkner nodded his head. 

            "I've seen her battle," he added. "Watch your back. This gym battle won't be easy." 

            "I know that by now," Yui said, thinking back to her battles with Jon and Viola, the two previous gym leaders she'd defeated. Each of them had presented tough challenges to her, and each time she prevailed. She planned not to leave this gym without the leader's badge. 

            This gym, like the one in Dream Town, had somebody standing near the field to serve as a referee. The young man with short platinum-blonde hair raised two flags in the air, one to represent both trainers. "As we have already confirmed, this will be a three-on-three match," he said. "Let the battle commence!" 

            Yui raised a Pokeball. "This should take care of any Flying-types you can throw at me," she said. "Shuckle, go!" 

            The air filled with diamonds of light as the shining Shuckle configured itself onto the battlefield. Tori scowled at this, but you could tell she was determined; she didn't look scared, or willing to back down. Complete confidence shone from her face as she lifted a Pokeball from her belt. 

            "I choose Noctowl!" she called, throwing the ball forward. Her Pokemon was a huge brown owl, with sharp-looking eyes. It glared at the small Pokemon on the floor before it; Shuckle, in turn, pulled its head back into its shell. 

            "All right Shuckle, let's start off strong. Strength attack!" Yui commanded. 

            "Counter it with Double-edge!" Tori called. Both Pokemon charged at each other, their power equally matched as they struggled to throw each other off-balance. Noctowl, however, had the upper-hand, being able to fly. It backed up and dove at Shuckle, knocking the Pokemon onto its back with a downward swoop. 

            "Shuckle, are you all right?" Yui asked as her Pokemon rolled back over onto its feet. It did some sort of strange body roll, shaking itself off and nodding its head at Yui at the same time. Yui laughed, and then looked up at Noctowl. The bird was still hovering above the battlefield, staring at Shuckle. "You're okay! Great!" she said excitedly. "Now, use your Rock Smash attack!"

            Shuckle jumped up, throwing itself at Noctowl. There was a crash, and Noctowl dropped to the ground. For a second, it looked like it wasn't moving, but it got up and began to hop around on its feet. Shuckle dropped down next to it, shaking itself off again. 

            "Noctowl, can you move you wing?" Tori asked, seeing that it was nuzzling itself under its left wing. The bird proudly spread its wings and, despite its injury, flew a few feet into the air. 

            "Okay, Shuckle, try that again!" Yui said. Noctowl flew up out of range, and Shuckle missed it target. 

            "Noctowl, use Sky Attack!" Tori called out. Noctowl flew up as high as it could, and bombarded Shuckle with a strong diving attack. Shuckle went flying, and landed on the opposite side of the battle field. It was horribly weakened, but still up and in the battle. 

            "Shuckle, try using Rock Slide!" Yui told it. Her Pokemon spun around, causing rocks to fly up around it; it fired the rocks at Noctowl, and the bird Pokemon dropped again. This time, it didn't make an attempt to stand. The referee raised the flag on Yui's side. "Victory goes to Shuckle!"

            Tori called back her Pokemon, and promptly brought up another Pokeball. "Try this one," she said. "Go, Swablu!" This Pokemon greatly resembled the Altaria from yesterday, only it was smaller. It was a tiny round bluebird, and its wings were made out of the cloudy substance that had surrounded Altaria. "Remember your friend from yesterday? This is the un-evolved form of one of them," Tori informed Yui. 

            "I see," Yui said, admiring the tiny bird. But she knew she couldn't let it beat her… just because she liked the Pokemon didn't mean she'd let it win. "Shuckle, use your Rock Smash!" 

            "Swablu, out of the way!' Tori said quickly. Shuckle went flying right past the tiny bird, who zipped out of the way every time Shuckle went in for an attack. Shuckle was having an incredibly hard time keeping up, as it wasn't as fast as Swablu anyway. 

            "Now, go in for a Peck attack," Tori instructed. Swablu dove straight down, ramming its tiny beak into Shuckle's head. Shuckle withdrew itself into its shell, motionless. 

            "Shuckle! Are you going to be all right?" Yui called. There was no response – and suddenly, Shuckle's head popped out of the hole in its shell. Its mouth had a red streak around it.

            "It must have gone in there to eat a berry it had stored," Teal suggested. "It healed itself a little bit!" 

            Yui smiled at her Pokemon. "Great!" she said. "Shuckle, use your Encore attack, quick!" 

            The familiar purple glow filled the arena, and Swablu was temporarily suspended in place. Then, it began randomly pecking at Shuckle; the attack had taken its effect. 

            "Now all you have to do is stay out of its way!" Yui said with a huge grin. Shuckle curled itself up in the protective layer of its shell, while Swablu kept idly pecking away at it. Eventually, Swablu stopped, and fell away from the shell, dazed from all the shots it had taken to the head. "Good, Shuckle! Now's your chance to Rock Smash it!" 

            And that's what it did, sending it opponent across the battlefield. Tori recalled Swablu, and stared in anger at the Shuckle as the referee raised the flag in Yui's favor. "That thing won't be able to beat this. Go, Pidgeot!" 

            Yui looked up, blinking absently. All she could do was whine slightly, looking up at the shining Flying-type Pokemon. 

            "Gah…" Falkner choked, his eyes wide. "That's Tori's last resort. Her most powerful Pokemon…"

            "Well, that's just lovely," Teal groaned. "Come on, Yui!! You can beat her!" 

            "And just remember, Shuckle's only your first Pokemon!" Morty called out. "You still have two more!"

            "I know, I've got everything under control!" she said. "Shuckle, try your Rock Smash attack on it!"

            "Pidgeot! Take off into the air and power up for Razor Wind!" Tori called. The Pokemon flew up; it was completely out of Shuckle's reach. It flapped its wings rapidly, and a cool wind began to spiral around the whole room. 

            "Shuckle! Withdraw yourself into that shell!" Yui cried. Just as the command was made, Pidgeot released its attack. Shuckle was carried into the air by the force of the wind; it was thrown around the room several times before finally being deposited back on the ground. It landed with a thud, and the creature inside of the shell was motionless.

            "Shuckle is unable to battle!" called the announcer. "Victory goes to Tori and Pidgeot!"

            Yui frowned slightly and recalled Shuckle. She took up her second Pokeball, and looked at it nervously before tossing it down. "Chikorita, go!" 

            Falkner's face went blank, and Teal glared strangely at Yui. "What are you doing?" she asked. "Chikorita's weak against Pidgeot!!"

            Morty was the only one to remain calm. "Relax, guys," he said, "I'm sure she knows what she's doing." 

            "Wow, someone who doesn't doubt me," Yui said, turning to smile at Morty. "Okay, Chikorita, get ready!"

            Tori just laughed, and pointed at the small Pokemon opposing her. "Pidgeot, Gust attack!!"

            "Chikorita, use Vine Whip!" Yui called over the rushing sound of the air as Chikorita jumped out of the way of Pidgeot's attack. It released two vines from the seeds around it neck and latched onto Pidgeot's talons, pulling it down toward the ground. 

            "Pidgeot, lift it up!" Tori instructed. "Then throw it down with another Gust!!"

            "Let go, Chikorita!!" Yui cried. But Pidgeot already had a grip on the vines, and all Chikorita accomplished by drawing her vines in was pulling herself closer to Pidgeot… and farther away from the ground. "Try attacking it! Razor Leaf!" 

            "Now, Pidgeot!" Tori yelled. As Chikorita started her attack, Pidgeot released its grip on her vines, and smacked her away with its wing. 

            "NO!" Yui screamed, running out into the battlefield. She caught Chikorita seconds before it would have hit the ground. "Chikorita… I should have known you couldn't battle that thing." 

            "Chiko!!" it growled, jumping down from her arms. 

            Yui blinked. "You're not going back out there," she said. "It's way too dangerous." 

            "Ko," it said, shaking its head. It stepped back out onto the arena, and motioned for Yui to take her place at the side. 

            "But… Are you sure?" Yui questioned. Chikorita looked up at her; it was clearly weak and injured, but its expression was determined. "…All right," she finally said. "Get ready to win this battle!"

            "Getting a little too hopeful there, are we, Yui?" Tori said with a smirk. "Pidgeot, Quick Attack!"

            "Chikorita, try your Sweet Scent!" Yui said, naming the first attack that came to mind. Chikorita bent her head and waved her leaf ever so slightly. Pidgeot slowed its flight, and hovered in mid-air, watching Chikorita intently. 

            "Pidgeot, snap out of it!" called Tori. 

            "Good, you've got it distracted! Now headbutt it!" Yui said. Chikorita jumped up, hitting Pidgeot dead-on. Yui could tell it hadn't taken that much damage from the attack, but it was still weakened. 

            "Try it again, Chikorita!"

            "Pidgeot, ignore that sweet scent and use your Gust attack again!" Tori instructed. Chikorita jumped at Pidgeot at the worst possible moment; just as her feet left the ground, Pidgeot swung its wing forward, knocking Chikorita back with a gust of slicing wind. She flew across the gym, landing helplessly at Yui's feet, Yui picked her up, staring mournfully at her. 

            "I'm sorry, Chikorita," she apologized again, "it was too much to ask of you in the first place. Return."

            "Heh… Sorry about that," Tori said. "I didn't mean to hurt your Chikorita so badly."

            "She'll be fine," Yui said, giving one final look to the Pokeball as she replaced it with another one from her belt. "But right now, I do believe we have a battle to finish." 

            "Right," Tori said. "Send out your last Pokemon."

            "As if that wasn't obvious enough," Yui laughed. "Eevee, go!" 

            The small evolution Pokemon came out of the spherical device in Yui's hand, growling as it looked up at its opponent. The size difference between the two Pokemon was immense; Eevee was merely a chew toy in Pidgeot's eyes. 

            "You know, if you keep giving away easy wins like this to your challengers, Yui, you'll never make it into the Pokemon League," Tori joked. 

            "I'll show you an easy win," Yui said. "Eevee, swift attack now!" 

            "Vee!" Eevee smiled, jumped up to balance itself on its tail, and released a wave of golden stars from its glowing eyes. Pidgeot was temporarily thrown off course, but it was definitely still in the battle. 

            "Pidgeot, you can stand up to that! Use Gust!" Tori said. 

            "Counter it with another swift attack!" Yui said quickly. Eevee attacked again, but it was a fraction of a second too late; she was blown backward, and she landed on the ground, sliding a few feet before stopping. 

            "Quick Attack, Pidgeot! Make sure it stays down!" Tori yelled as she watched Eevee stand to her feet. 

            "Sand attack, Eevee!" Yui commanded. Eevee dug her feet into the ground, pulling small pieces of gravel and dirt up from the floor and flicking it into Pidgeot's face. The bird cried out, and was sent spinning temporarily off-course… which gave Yui the chance she wanted. 

            "Now, jump onto its back!" she said; Eevee dug her claws into the ground once more, but this time she pressed upward and propelled herself into the air. She landed with a smack on the bird Pokemon's feathers. 

            "Shake it off!" Tori said. "Fly up and try doing a barrel roll!" 

            "Just hold on with your claws, Eevee!" Yui told it. Eevee buried her claws into Pidgeot's feathers, holding on for dear life as Pidgeot spun wildly in the air, trying to shake her off. 

            "What do you think she has planned?" Teal asked, tapping Morty on the shoulder. The blonde gym leader shrugged, looking up at the Pokemon. 

            "She must have some sort of idea what she's doing," he said. "Otherwise, she'd never get Eevee to do this… Or any of her Pokemon, for that matter…"

            Meanwhile, Pidgeot was starting to tire, and its trainer was getting more and more restless and frustrated. Pidgeot couldn't attack Eevee when she was on its back… It couldn't throw her off… There was almost nothing Pidgeot could do. Then again, there was probably nothing that Eevee could do either… 

            Yui noticed Pidgeot's increasing fatigue just as much as Tori did. "Okay, Eevee, it's getting tired and slow," she said. "Jump up a little bit, and use Swift to push it toward the ground!" 

            "What?" Tori exclaimed as she watched the blast of golden stars send her Pokemon crashing down to the ground. It hit the ground hard, and stopped moving; it was hard to tell if it was fainted or asleep. But either way… 

            "Pidgeot is out of the battle!" said the announcer. "This match goes to the challenger Yui and her Eevee!" 

            "YAY!" Yui cried, jumping up and hugging Eevee. "My strategy worked!" 

            "Ooie," Eevee squealed. It hadn't known anything about any strategy, but what she had done had worked, and it had seemed to be important… so she was happy anyway. 

            "Great job, Yui!" Falkner called from the sidelines. "That was a great battle!" 

            "Thanks," Yui said, blushing. "Wow, I have fans…" 

            "He's right, though. You did do really great," Tori said. "You deserve this…" She held out her hand. Inside was a small badge, shaped like a wing with a small curl in the middle. "Here's the Breeze Badge. Please take in on behalf of Sky Town."

            "I… I plan on it," Yui said, pinning the badge next to the other two. Morty came up to her and picked her up, spinning her around in a circle. 

            "Great battle," he said. "You did really well out there." 

            "So I hear," Yui smiled. "Thanks, Morty." 

            "It's no problem at all," he said. "After all, I'm only telling you what I truthfully think…" 

            "Morty, you're the sweetest thing ever," Yui said with a little giggle. 

            "Uh, I hate to interrupt, but shouldn't we be heading down to Aurora City?" Teal asked. "I heard that place is the hugest tourist spot ever… Malls, attractions… Even a water park!" 

            "Water park?" Yui's eyes lit up. "Count me in!!" 

            "I can help you get down from the city," Tori said. "We can call my bird-types to come and carry you again." 

            "Thanks a lot, Tori," Falkner said. "We really appreciate this." 

            "Aww, no problem, Fal," Tori replied. "Let's go out there and call the birds before it gets to be late… They don't like traveling by night usually…" 

            "Okay," Falkner agreed, following after Tori; Teal followed close behind the two of them, making sure there was nothing going on between them. And that left Yui and Morty to just hang back and walk together… 

            "I can't wait to see the water park… can you?" Yui cried, latching herself to Morty's shoulder. "It's gonna be so much fun…"

            "If you say so, Yui-chan," Morty responded. "At least you're excited about something else besides shopping…"

            "Oh, come on, I'm not that boring," Yui laughed. They exited the city through the double glass doors, following Falkner and the other girls to the edge of the city. 

            "Look down there," Tori was saying. "From here, you can see all of Aurora City. It's really beautiful." 

            She wasn't lying, either… The whole city was alight with neon signs and fluorescent lamps from the windows of tall apartment buildings. "Wow," Yui said. "It's amazing. Everything in Tokko is so pretty." 

            "Glad you like it," Tori said, raising the bird-calling whistle to her lips. "Ready to go see it all up close?"

            ~To Be Continued…~

            **A/N: **Yay! Probably the shortest chapter in Yui's Journey history!! ^-^ I liked it anyway… Just a straight and to-the-point gym battle episode. I think it'd be a lot more exciting if it was animated… And it'd be longer. But I like it, and I hope you did!! ^^ And I know that everyone who is just dying for two certain people to be paired up will _love_ Chapter 11…. But then again, there are people who aren't looking forward to the pairing of these two certain people… Hehe… Well, you'll just have to wait and see! ^-^ I'll have it written as soon as I can! ^-^ Bai now!


	11. Of Love and Waterslides

**_Yui's Journey – The Tokko Adventures_****__**

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**_Chapter 11 – Of Love and Waterslides…_**

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            "I don't even know where we're going right now!" Yui exclaimed, looking around among the huge buildings that towered above her. "This city is huge…"

            "Hard to believe that this place doesn't even have a gym, isn't it?" Morty added. 

            The group of four – Yui, Morty, Falkner and Teal – were in the middle of Aurora City, a huge tourist's landmark right in the middle of Tokko. They had only been in the city for about three hours, and they had already gotten themselves completely lost about four times. Now, they were standing in front of a flower shop that Yui had insisted that they check out, and as soon as they had walked out they had forgotten where they were, and which direction they had come from.

            "Falkner, you've been here before, right?" asked Teal. "You must have spent a lot of time here when you visited Tori."

            "Uh…. Not really," he replied. "We spent most of our time up in Sky Town. We hardly ever came down here." 

            "Just great," Teal said. "How are we supposed to find our way around the city?" 

            "Well… We know where the flower shop is!" Yui said, smiling stupidly and pointing behind her. Teal and Falkner sweat-dropped, but Morty just looked down at Yui with a big smile. 

            "You're cute even when you're lost," he said. Yui returned his smile, and hugged him around the shoulders. 

            "I'm cute all the time, Morty!" she laughed. 

            "Yes… yes, I suppose you are," he said. 

            "Aww," Falkner said in a mockingly-cute voice. "Okay, I hate to break you two up so soon, but shouldn't we be trying to find out where we are?"

            "Yeah," Yui sighed, letting go of Morty's shoulders. "I want to go to that water park!"         

            "Me too!" Teal said. "I think I saw it… But we went by it too quickly. I don't remember where it was." 

            Yui perked up. "Let's backtrack!" she said. "We have to get there!!"

            "YES!" Teal cried. The two girls looked around… and their shoulders drooped as they both let out a sigh of disappointment at the exact same moment. 

            "Now what?" Morty questioned. 

            "We have no idea which direction we came from," Teal sighed, sitting herself on the sidewalk. 

            "Oh yeah," Falkner said, slumping down beside her. "This city is hopeless…" 

            "We should just keep walking," Morty said. "That's the only way we could hope to find something."

            Yui nodded, looking around a bit more. "Yeah, get up, you guys!" she said. "I think I know where to go!" 

            Falkner stood, offering Teal a hand and helping up to her feet. "How would you know?" he asked. "You're just as lost as us… if not more." 

            The red-haired trainer frowned in response to his comment. "I just… know," she said. "Let's go!"

            "Should we go?" Teal asked, watching as her friend took off down the sidewalk.  

            "Well, we're not getting anywhere just sitting around," Morty commented, following after Yui. 

            Falkner's eyes went wide. "Let's not get separated," he said, motioning for Teal to follow him as he darted after the others. 

            "See? I _told you I knew what I was doing." Yui smirked as she looked up at the neon sign hanging from the tall building; "Aurora Water Park." _

            "I never would have believed it," Teal said. "This had to have been a lucky fluke…" 

            "More than likely," Falkner said, "but at least we're here." 

            The group stepped inside the building; the scent of chlorine caught their attention as they walked up to the cashier. Each paid their way in, and they all retreated to their respective changing rooms. 

            In the girls' room, Teal and Yui rented out a locker and got out their bathing suits, heading for a couple of cubicles near the doors to the pool area. Teal changed quickly into her aqua-blue bathing suit; it was quite a fancy one. It was covered with glitter, and the middle was cut out in the shape of an oval around her belly button. She tied her hair back into her usual ponytail, and walked out of the cubicle to meet up with Yui. 

            "So, how do I look?" Yui asked, seeing the awed expression that crossed her friend's face. "Do you think Morty will like it?" 

            "I don't have a doubt in my mind," Teal said, smirking. Yui was wearing a black bikini top with a picture of an Umbreon imprinted on the left side. A couple of golden diamonds were stuck down around it; they looked like stars surrounding the image of the nocturnal Pokemon. The bottom part of the bikini was the same black shade, but it had no Pokemon picture, just more of the gold gems. 

            "Great!" Yui laughed. "Let's get out there and show him!" 

            "Hey, wait," Teal said, glaring mischievously at her friend. "Why would you care what Morty thought of it?" 

            Yui blushed, turning her head away. "No reason," she replied quickly. "I bet Falkner will like yours…" 

            "Hey! What does that have to do with anything?" Teal shot back, chasing Yui as she ran through the doors into the pool room. 

            "So you admit that it's true," Yui joked, smiling. Teal balled her fists and blushed, trying to erase the thought from her head. 

            "Now, now, girls, no fighting," Falkner laughed, walking out of the men's changing room. Teal blushed even harder; thinking about the possibility of Falkner having some kind of interest in her was one thing. But having him stand there in nothing but a pair of dark blue swimming trunks was a completely different story. She looked up and met his eyes; she thought she saw him smile for a split second, but he turned away quickly, looking out into the crowded water park. Teal couldn't see it from where she stood, but a light blush had crossed his cheeks…

            Yui looked from side to side, shifting her pose anxiously. "Where's Morty?" she thought aloud. "I wanna go swim!"

            "Right here," he said, walking out from the doorway where Falkner had come from. Like his fellow gym leader, he wore nothing but a pair of shorts, but his were identical in color to Yui's suit. For once, he wasn't wearing his trademark headband; his blonde hair fell loosely around his face. He laid eyes on her, blinking excitedly and blushing. "Where… did you get that thing?" 

            "What, this?" Yui questioned playfully, doing a little spin for him. "Actually, I got it from Karen. It didn't fit her anymore." 

            "You look… very pretty," he told her. _"She looks incredibly beautiful," he thought, making sure to keep his thoughts to himself. He bit his lower lip and looked down, trying to get his cheeks to stop going redder and redder by the minute. It didn't help that Yui walked up to him at that moment, linking her arm to his. _

            "Stop daydreaming, silly," she said, dragging him toward the water. "Teal and Falkner already went in. You don't want to stand here all day, do you?"

            "No, of course not," he said, smiling and following her. _"Of course, I wouldn't mind, as long as I could stand here with you…" His thoughts trailed off as his foot touched warm water; Yui had taken him all the way to the main pool. The wave pool was on, and small waves splashed around his legs. _

            "Come on!" Yui said, kneeling down and pushing herself out into the water. Morty waded out after her a little, and dove right into the water when he reached a deep enough level. He chased after Yui, splashing her whenever she poked her head out from under the waves. 

            "Hey!" she said, blocking his splashes. "Cut it out, Morty!" She splashed him in return, swimming forward and pushing back on his chest, trying to drive him away from her. He smirked and pushed her by the shoulders, and soon the two were engaged in an all-out water war. Yui threw Morty off to the side and tried to swim away; he grabbed her by the feet and tickled her, causing her to burst out laughing and kick water in his face. He sputtered, but recovered from the attack quickly and ran after Yui, who was trying to take off into the shallow end so she could run away. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close to him, leaning his head on her shoulder from behind. 

            "And just where are you going?" he questioned, hugging her tightly. Yui laughed, struggling playfully against his embrace. 

            "Let go of me, Morty!" she said between giggles. He smiled, and leaned even closer to her than before. 

            "Whatever you say, Yui," he said, depositing a quick kiss on her cheek before releasing her. She blushed, and turned around to face him. Suddenly, she didn't feel much like running away. 

            From a small hot tub near the edge of the wave pool, Teal and Falkner sat in the relaxing warm water, watching their two friends play around in the water. Things were starting to get interesting now; Yui had her arms around Morty's shoulders, and her head rested next to his as she hugged him. Her cheeks were visibly red. 

            "Any second now," Teal cheered, her gaze plastered on her friends. Yui pulled away from the hug slightly, but her arms were still sitting on Morty's shoulders. His arms had somehow wrapped themselves around her waist, and the two of them kneeled on the shore on the pool, looking into each other's faces. Yui shut her eyes, moving her face slowly closer to Morty's…

            "Watch out!" Falkner suddenly said. Teal jumped, and stared at Falkner strangely; then looked back at Yui and Morty just as a huge wave came out of nowhere, knocking both of them over. 

            "Oh… Well, that just screws everything up!" Teal pouted. Falkner looked over at her, raising one eyebrow. 

            "I thought you used to like Morty." 

            "Used to, Falkner," she said, crossing her arms. "I like somebody else now." 

            "Oh? Who would that be?" he asked, making her jump. 

            "…None of your business!" she said, turning to face away from him. He smirked, and went back to watching Morty and Yui. 

            As the waves washed over her body, Yui blinked slowly, looking at Morty. She had been so close to doing what she had wanted to do for the longest time… and it had just been messed up. She sighed, still blushing, and looked down at the ground. Small waves rippled around her, making her frown. She suddenly didn't like the wave pool very much…

            Morty looked up at the ceiling, lost in thought. _"She was going to kiss me," he privately said to himself. __"She was really __going to kiss me." He blushed profusely, looking over at Yui. She was standing up, smiling weakly at him. _

            "Want to… go down a waterslide or something?" she asked, brightening up a bit.  

            "Uh… Sure," he replied, following her out of the water. He decided to do exactly what she appeared to be doing; forget that the whole thing had happened. 

            Yui and the others spent the entire day at the water park; literally. The park closed at 11 PM, and the four of them were still inside at 10:58, waiting to be asked to leave before they made any effort to depart. 

            "Hey, Yui, it's about time to go," Teal said, watching her friend splash down into a pool of deep water from an aqua-blue colored slide. 

            "Okay, sure," Yui said. "Just one more slide!" 

            "If you say so, but the park's closing," Teal told her. "I don't even think the lifeguards are up there monitoring the slides anymore."

            "That's okay, it won't take me long," chirped Yui. "One more, and then I'll meet you in the changing room." 

            "All right then," Teal agreed, heading for the ladies' changing room. Morty and Falkner had left long before then; Yui was one of the last people left in the park. As everyone made their way toward the exits, Yui quietly started climbing the steps up to the slides. There was nobody else up there; no slide operators, no other guests. She was pretty much alone. 

            "Eep… This is kind of scary," she said to herself as she ascended the steps to the "Dragon Rage", the longest slide in the park. "But this place is so much fun! I have to come back here tomorrow too!" 

            She finally reached the top of the long staircase; her legs ached, and she could hardly step up to the slide. When she climbed up to the platform, she froze; the water had already been turned off. The slide was pretty much dry, as were Yui's skin and bikini. 

            "Oh, lovely," she said to herself, looking back at the stairs. "There is no way I can walk back down all those stairs… And it'll take forever to get down this slide!!" She groaned, looking to the ground far below. "What could possibly make things any worse?" 

            And of course, on cue, things got worse; the lights in the building went off. The park was officially closed for the day. 

            "Great," Yui groaned, sitting down on the top of the slide and trying to push herself down. "This is going to be **so much fun." **

            "Where is she?" Teal asked worriedly, waiting by the doors to the ladies' changing room. "She said one more slide, and she'd come out! Did she change her mind or something?" 

            "She should be out by now," said Morty, looking out into the pool area. "All the lights are off." 

            "What if she's not out?" Falkner wondered. "What if she got stuck?"          

            "They wouldn't let someone get stuck like that!" Teal exclaimed. "…Would they?" 

            "Excuse me," said a guard, approaching the group, "the park is closed. I'll have to ask you to leave." 

            "But our friend is stuck in there!" Teal burst out. "They closed her in!" 

            "Miss, they do a check of the park every night before closing up," he informed her. "I can assure you that there's nobody left inside." 

            "But…" Teal stopped, realizing he was probably right. "Okay, you win. We'll go." 

            "Thanks for visiting the park," he said, shooting them a smile that looked clearly fake as they walked away. The three of them were the last ones out of the building aside from the staff, and the doors closed and locked themselves behind them. 

            "Do you guys really think she's still inside?" Falkner asked. "I mean, poor Yui. There's nowhere to sleep in there… and they probably won't find her until tomorrow morning… What if she is trapped in there? What if… she got hurt?" 

            "She said she was going on a slide," Teal said. "What if she tripped on the stairs? What if she…" Teal swallowed hard, looking down mournfully, "…fell off the edge?" 

            "Enough of these 'what ifs'," Morty said, handing Falkner his backpack. "Hold on to this. I'm going in there to find out the truth." 

            Teal and Falkner gave him a pair of strange glances. "How?" Falkner questioned. 

            "I think I have an idea," Morty said, removing a PokeBall from his belt. "Gengar, go!" 

            The Ghost-type Pokemon emerged from the ball, appearing in a flash of light in front of the group. "Gengar, I need you to teleport me inside the water park," Morty stated simply. Gengar looked taken aback, and almost nervous…

            "Look, I know you don't know how to teleport very well," Morty said, "but please. I need you to do this. I'll try to direct you where you need to go." 

            "Gen. Gar!" it agreed, smiling nervously. 

            "What about us?" Falkner asked. 

            "Gengar won't be able to teleport all of us," Morty said. "You two go wait in the Pokemon Center. I can find Yui on my own." 

            "All right," Teal said, still feeling very worried. "I really hope she's not hurt." 

            "She'll be just fine," Falkner said, putting an arm around her back and leading her through the city. "Now come on. I saw the Pokemon Center on the way here, so I know where it is." 

            "At least we know where something is," Teal sighed, reluctantly walking with him. 

            Morty was alone then; he seemed to be the only person in the area. It was a creepy sort of feeling that would give anybody chills, but the trembling feeling in his spine wasn't from the loneliness, from the silence, of from the cold. It was worry… Worry for the one he loved. He could truthfully admit that now. 

            "Okay, Gengar," he said, closing his eyes and taking hold of the Pokemon's hand. "I'll try to visualize where I want to be, and you think with me and take me there. Okay?" 

            "Gengar," it said, shutting its own eyes. Morty created a mental image of the inside of the water park, and Gengar copied the picture in its own mind. Soon, the two of them were fading from the sidewalk, and in no time they disappeared completely…

            Yui finally reached the bottom of the slide; she swam across the small splashdown pool, and made her way immediately for the changing rooms. There was a dim light shining through the transparent roof of the building, so she could relatively see where she was going. When she reached her destination, she stopped cold once again; a gate made of metal bars had been drawn across the exits; there was no way out. Yui sighed heavily, turning away from the gate. 

            "It just gets better and better," she aid aloud to herself. "I guess I'll go find a beach chair to sleep on…" 

            She was about to start walking when she saw a strange form start to materialize in front of her. It was dark, like a shadow; many sharp spikes emerged from its body, and she thought she could see a pair of red eyes staring her down. She screamed, and took off running toward the pool. 

            "Yui!" Morty called, but he said her name at the same time that she'd screamed; her shriek had drowned him out, and she hadn't heard him. He ran after her, recalling Gengar into its PokeBall. "Yui, wait!" 

            "Leave me alone!" Yui cried, barely recognizing his voice. She was too scared to realize what was going on, or who it was chasing her… she just wanted to get away from the eyes. She ran right into the shallow end of the pool… and slipped on the still water, crashing down onto the floor. Morty heard a sickening smack as her head bounced off the cement. 

            "Yui!!" he cried again, rushing to her side, but being careful not to fall himself. He gently picked her up and carried her to one of the cushioned lounge chairs, resting her softly on the pillow-like surface. Then, lifting her head slightly, he did a quick check for injuries; there was no blood, but a good-sized bump had already formed on the back of her head. As he laid her back down, he noticed something else a good deal more critical than the bump; she wasn't breathing. 

            "Oh no," he said, feeling for a pulse on her neck. He found one… a faint one, but a pulse nonetheless. "That fall must have knocked the wind right out of her…" 

            Morty sat there for a little while, checking her pulse continually, but she wouldn't wake up. It seemed like her breathing was getting worse by the minute, and she showed no sign of moving any time soon. He swallowed hard, moving closer to her face. 

            "Good thing I'm trained in first aid," he thought aloud, pulling Yui's head up in the proper position for him to do CPR. He plugged her nose with one hand, and held her chin up to open her airway with the other. He leaned down toward her mouth, his cheeks turning red-hot instantly. _"Okay, this is rescue breathing, not a make-out session," he reminded himself as he lowered his mouth onto hers to give her a breath. He gave her another, and lowered her head slowly, placing his hands on her chest to try to get her heart going. _

            "Come on, Yui," he said. "Please wake up… Please…" He resumed the breathing position, inhaling deeply and covering her open mouth with his own once again. One breath went in… and with the second, Yui coughed and shot open her eyes, staring at him. 

            "…Morty?" she groaned, sitting up a little as he pulled his face away from hers. "What happened? My head is pounding…" 

            "You fell down," he replied, looking down at the ground away from her. "You lost your breath, and I was… just helping you out, that's all."         

            "Oh…" Yui sighed, blushing. "Well… Thank you…"

            "You're welcome," he said, looking up at her. She was smiling, despite the obvious pain in her back and head, and her cheeks seemed darker than the rest of her face. 

            "You should rest," Morty said, gently pushing Yui back down onto the lounge chair by her shoulders. Before she could respond, he sat up on the edge of the chair, and continued to hold her shoulders. "You know… What I said earlier… About you looking really pretty? It was true," he continued. 

            "…Really?" Yui said softly, blushing harder. "Do you really like it?" 

            "It's not the suit that I like," he said. "It's you that I like."

            Morty waited a minute to see her shocked expression before leaning down to kiss her. He didn't worry about taking a breath this time; he pressed his lips firmly to hers, lifting her closer to him by her shoulders. At first she didn't respond, which worried him… but soon he felt her arms slink around his back, and she held him tightly, returning the kiss. The two pulled back for a breath at almost the exact same time, and his eyes met hers. 

            "Morty?" 

            "Yes?" he replied, taking a few deep breaths. Just that one kiss had managed to leave him breathless… 

            "I like you too," Yui said, locking him in another firm kiss seconds after. That kiss slowly turned into another… and another. He lay down beside her on the narrow lounge chair and moved his mouth along with hers, copying her eager motions. 

            _"Where the hell did she learn to kiss like this?" Morty thought to himself, finally releasing her to catch his breath. He looked down at Yui; she was also breathing quickly and heavily. She finally caught her breath, and looked up at him, a huge contented smile crossing her face. _

            "Scratch what I said before," he said, brushing a hand through her damp red hair. "It's you that I _love." _

            Yui's smile got bigger. "That's good," she said, brushing his lips with a quick peck, "because I love you too." 

            Morty started to say something, but Yui cut him off with another thought; "So, can we get out of here now?" she asked. "I don't know about you… but I'm freezing, and I'm in a lot of pain." 

            He froze. "Uh… I didn't even think of that," he said slowly. "I don't think we can get out yet." 

            "What?" Yui asked, her eyes widening. "Why not? How did you get in here in the first place?" 

            "I teleported using Gengar," he said, "but we can't do that on the way out. He's not experienced enough to teleport two people, and you probably wouldn't be able to direct him out on your own." 

            "So… We're stuck," Yui sighed. "Great. I'm stuck in here with only this tiny little bikini, and I'm freezing cold." 

            Morty smirked playfully. "I can change that," he said, sitting up a little bit. Before Yui could protest, he leaned down and kissed her above her belly button. His kisses trailed up her body, finally reaching her neck, then her earlobe, and finally her mouth. He smothered her with kisses as he rubbed her sides with his hands, and she shivered contently. "Warm yet?" he whispered in her ear. 

            "Almost," she whispered back, in the deepest voice he'd ever heard her use. He shivered too, and took her into a strong embrace, kissing her almost forcefully. He pulled away to get a glimpse of her expression… she was smirking playfully, yet she looked a little nervous. 

            "Something wrong?" he asked. 

            "I hope you're not going to 'change' the part about me wearing the bikini," she said. 

            Morty shook his head, smiling. "Not tonight," he replied, hugging her. "Definitely not tonight." 

            "Good," Yui said. "Because I think we should get some sleep. We want to get up and sneak out of here unnoticed tomorrow, right?" 

            "Right," Morty said, looking around cautiously. He picked a PokeBall off his belt, and sent Gengar out again. "Gengar, make sure Yui and I wake up tomorrow morning before the park opens." 

            The Pokemon nodded his head in agreement, and floated off to do whatever it is that Gengars do in the nighttime. Yui and Morty both smiled in unison, and cuddled up against each other, slowly drifting off into a rest full of beautiful dreams… 

            The next morning went by according to plan: Gengar woke Yui and Morty a few minutes before the park opened, and they had some time to hide before the gates were opened and everything was unlocked. They slowly crept through their respective changing rooms, and snuck by before the people who worked the cashiers got there. The doors, of course, opened from the inside, so they easily slipped out of the building and back to the Pokemon Center, completely unnoticed. 

            Teal and Falkner were already awake, and they were both sitting by the windows of the Pokemon Center, watching for their friends worriedly. As soon as they came within sight of the center, Teal dashed out and hugged the both of them. 

            "I was so scared!" she said, almost in tears. "I thought something happened to the two of you!" 

            "Oh, something happened all right," Falkner smirked. He looked down, pointing out to Teal that Yui and Morty were holding hands. Teal blinked, and looked up at them. 

            "I knew it!" she smiled, hugging both of them at once. "I saw it when you guys almost kissed the first time… I was so disappointed that it got ruined for you! But now it's okay, isn't it?" 

             "It sure is," Morty said, smiling over his shoulder at Yui. She smiled back, blinking rapidly and making him blush. 

            Falkner yawned, and stretched out his arms. "Well, what should we do now?" he asked, looking around the city yet again. "It's pretty early… What do you guys think about getting an early start on the trip to the next city?" 

            "Sounds good to me!" Yui chimed. "Have you guys got all your stuff?"

            Teal responded by running into the Pokemon Center, and returning with hers, Morty's and Falkner's backpacks. "Now we do," she said, throwing her pack over her shoulder. "Now we can go wandering aimlessly through Aurora City again, trying to find the exit." 

            "Oh, joy," Morty sighed, gripping Yui's hand tighter as he took his stuff from Teal. "I guess that's why we need an early start." 

            "It sounds like fun!" Yui said, skipping while the rest of them walked. 

            "Glad you're the only one who thinks so," Falkner commented, keeping closer to Teal to avoid standing next to the overly-hyper Kinomoto girl. He didn't want to know what had happened last night… but it had to have been good, if it had left Yui in such a good mood… 

            ~To Be Continued…~

            **A/N: Whee! It's finally finished! Hehe… This is one of the chapters I've been looking forward to writing ever since I started writing this fic. Well, I finally got me and Morty together… *falls over laughing* It's such a fun chapter!! Yes, I know, it was kind of… well, mushy… but mushy fluffy love is fun!!! ^^ Right? Hehe… Anyway, it's about time I got some sleep… So I shall see you later with Chapter 12, which involves another certain pairing that should be completely obvious by now… ^-^ Bai!!!**


	12. After Aurora

**_Yui's Journey – The Tokko Adventures_****__**

****

**_Chapter 12 – After _****_Aurora_****__**

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****Yui laughed out loud as Morty carried her down the pathway to the next city on his back; he held onto her legs, and she had her arms wrapped securely around his shoulders. "Don't go too fast, you'll fall!" she cried between furious giggles. 

            "I'm not going to fall! Don't worry, Yui," he called back. She laughed again, and leaned her head down a little closer to his.

            "Do you remember the name of the city we're going to?" she asked. 

            "Well, we're on Route 52 now, so the two closest cities are Red Rose City and Kitty City," Morty said. "We can go to either one, since they both have a gym; but Kitty City is a little more out of the way, so it'd be hard to backtrack there if we went to Red Rose City first." 

            "Kitty City it is, then!" Yui said, turning around to look at Teal and Falkner, who were trailing behind. "Is that okay, guys?"             "Yeah, whatever," Teal called forward, looking off to the side. Falkner was a bit worried; ever since Yui and Morty had hit it off in Aurora City, Teal had been very quiet… She almost seemed depressed, or jealous. 

            "Hey, Teal, are you okay?" he asked. "You're acting differently." 

            "It's nothing," she said, still looking away from him. Falkner blinked, and put a hand on her shoulder, making her turn to face him. 

            "It's not 'nothing'," he said almost accusingly. "Something's wrong. Please tell me what it is." 

            "Falkner, it's _nothing_!" Teal repeated. "So _please_ leave me alone!" 

            "Alright, sorry," he sighed, removing his hand. Teal stared at the ground as she walked, not even looking in his direction, but Falkner couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He was definitely worried about her now… 

            As for Teal, she wasn't exactly sure what she was feeling. Many feelings were spinning through her head - jealousy, anger, even a bit of guilt - and it was hard for her to grasp her emotions. She was angry at everyone right now… Angry at Yui and Morty, for beginning the relationship that she had secretly wished would never happen; angry at herself, for lying to Yui and Morty the night before about being happy for them. She even felt anger toward Falkner, because he didn't love her the way she wanted him to. Teal knew inside that it was wrong to discriminate her friends for these reasons, but she couldn't help it. It just felt like loneliness was overwhelming her… enveloping her in a negative state of mind. All her mind was saying to her was "You'll always be alone." 

            Suddenly, there was a yelp, a crash, and a series of screams from ahead of them on the path; Teal's head jolted up, and she saw Yui sitting in the middle of the walkway, rubbing dirt off her face and crying to Morty, complaining that he'd dropped her when he had said - he had _promised that he wouldn't. Morty was planted face first in the dirt, attempting weakly to stand up. Teal didn't see, but Falkner noticed a thin trail of blood streaming from underneath the blonde boy's face. _

            "Oh no… Are you guys all right?" he questioned, darting up the path. Teal followed, making an attempt to be normal, as if nothing was wrong. Morty sat up, and Teal gasped as she looked at him; blood not only poured from his crushed nose, but from a gash in his forehead, right below his precious headband.

            Yui saw him too, and turned away in fear, breathing deeply. "I'm so sorry, Morty," she said quickly, "I didn't mean to shout at you!" 

            "It's fine," he groaned, holding a hand over his face lightly and cringing. "Can we please do something about this, though?" 

            "What can we do?" Teal put in. "Aurora City's too far back… there's not a building for miles!" 

            "I don't think it's that bad," Morty said, inspecting his nose. "It's thankfully not broken… just kind of hurt."

            "I'm so, so sorry," Yui cried, hugging him lightly. "I didn't mean to. Really." 

            "It wasn't your fault," he replied. "I leaned forward too far or something… If it had been you that had fallen, you would have fallen backwards off of me, not forwards." 

            "O – okay," Yui stammered, looking down.

            "I think we need to get him to a shelter of some kind, or something," Falkner pointed out, a small sweatdrop forming on his forehead. 

            "You think?" Teal said. "He's hurt; of course he needs a place to rest!" 

            "But… There aren't any buildings within miles of here," Yui whined. "Moving that far is useless… Let's set up camp in the forests around here." 

            Teal nodded slowly. "Sounds fine," she said, "…but who's going to take care of Morty?" 

            "I will," Yui declared, brushing off her face one last time and standing up. "I owe it to him."

            Falkner and Teal stared at her in surprise. Morty just smiled… slightly. "Er… Are you sure you're in good hands?" Falkner whispered to him. 

            "I think I can trust her," he replied. "…Sort of."  

            "Yui!" Morty called playfully, waving a hand in the air. "My nose is bleeding again!" 

            The redheaded girl was at his side instantly; both of them laughed as she wiped away the tiny trickle of blood before it touched his lip. "So, you think you can trust me to take care of you now?"

            "I _know_ I can," Morty said, pulling his sleeping bag up over his shoulders and wrapping Yui in it with him. She giggled, and slid her arms around his waist, cuddling up as close as she could. 

            "You know, you guys, there _is a fire going," Falkner said, walking through the campsite and throwing another log into the fireplace they'd built. "It's not that cold." _

            "We never said it was," said Yui, resting her head on Morty's shoulder. 

            "We're just sitting together," Morty added. 

            Falkner rolled his eyes, and sat down on the ground. He looked over at Teal; she was curled up in her own sleeping bag, turned away from the group and the fire. "Teal, you okay?" 

            "Fine," she said lowly. "I'm getting some rest." 

            He yawned, leaning back and laying across the grass. "You've got the right idea, I think," he said, rubbing his eyes. "It's almost eleven o'clock… Guess it's time to go to sleep."

            "We'll put out the fire," Yui said, "don't worry about it."

            "'Kay," Falkner agreed, yawning again as he crawled into his sleeping bag. After that, Yui and Morty didn't hear another sound from either of their friends. 

            "Maybe we should go to bed too," Morty suggested. "We want to get to Kitty City as soon as we can, right?" 

            "But… You're hurt," Yui said. "We probably shouldn't be moving too quickly." 

            "I'll be fine," he assured her. "My nose isn't hurt that badly… the only thing that really hurts is this cut on my forehead, and it'll heal. So I'll be okay." 

            "Okay… I trust you," Yui said, smiling softly at him. She quickly ran the tip of her tongue over her upper lip; Morty grinned, and leaned in to softly kiss her. She hugged his waist tightly and pulled herself closer, deepening the kiss. Yui was the first to pull away; she stared forward into Morty's alternate colored eyes, and blushed deeply. 

            "Ready to get to sleep?" he asked, his voice low and breathless. 

            "Sure," Yui replied. They stood up together, still tangled in Morty's sleeping bag. He pulled it off of his shoulders and set it down on the ground right next to Yui's. After Morty took a second to put out the fire, the two of them snuggled inside their respective sleeping bags, looking into each other's eyes as they settled their heads onto the pillows. 

            "Good night, Morty," Yui whispered. 

            "Good night, Yui," he responded softly. 

            Minutes later, after making sure that all three of her friends were sound asleep, Teal slowly sat up in her sleeping bag. She looked around the moonlit-stained campsite, and stared in jealousy at Yui and Morty. They were in separate sleeping bags, but they were still lying extremely close to each other. Teal frowned, and looked away, staring back at the ground. 

            "Why did they have to get together so soon like that?" she said quietly to herself, biting her bottom lip to keep from speaking louder and waking the others up. "I wasn't lying when I said that I no longer liked Morty… But I hate seeing couples so happy together like that! It just reminds me that I'll never experience that…" 

            Her eyes darted to where Falkner was sleeping; she stared at him in his sleep, allowing a light blush to come to her cheeks. He was turned over on his side, and the eye that was usually covered by his hair was now blocked off by the pillow as well. His other eye was peacefully shut, and he was smiling in his sleep. His light skin was enveloped in the moonlight; inside of his cloud-white sleeping bag, he looked almost like an angel. A small, single tear fell from Teal's eye, and she smiled as she stood up from the spot where she was rested. 

            "I know I'll never have a chance with you, my sweet Falkner," she said, approaching him cautiously. "I know you can't hear me, but I want you to know… I want to say that I love you." 

            Leaning down, she brushed her lips against his pale cheek, blushing even more furiously; this was the closest she'd ever been to him, or to anyone… and as far as she was concerned, it'd be the last time as well. Making sure to stay quiet, she rolled up her sleeping bag and picked up her backpack. Once she'd made sure she had everything that belonged to her, she turned and sauntered off into the dark forest. 

            Yui awoke in the morning to the sound of somebody yelling. She sat up in her sleeping bag, groaning and rubbing her eyes… As her eyes adjusted to being awake, she noticed that it wasn't morning quite yet… The sky was still dark, and the moon was still out. But Falkner was already awake… He was rushing around the campsite, calling Teal's name and looking around frantically.  

            "What's going on?" she said, quickly checking her PokeGear for the time. "It's only two in the morning." 

            "Teal's missing!" Falkner cried. "She's gone… so is all her stuff! I don't know what could have happened!!" 

            "What?" Yui stood to her feet, looking around. "She wouldn't just leave like that… She must be nearby!" 

            "I've looked everywhere," he said. "There's no sign of her." 

            He sat down on the ground, holding his head in his hands." What if we never find her?" he cried. "I'll never see her again…" 

            "Don't say that," Yui said. "We _will find her. And…" she nudged him with her elbow, "we'll make sure she knows how you feel about her." _

            Falkner looked up. "How did you –"

            "I can just tell," Yui interrupted. "Now come on; let's go into the forest and search. I'll wake Morty up." 

            "Okay…" he said slowly, letting a single tear fall from his visible eye. As Yui went to try to awaken Morty, Falkner grabbed a flashlight out of his bag and ran off into the forest. Yui heard his quick footsteps, and spun around, watching him disappear into the thick arrangement of trees. 

            "No, Falkner! Wait! We shouldn't get separated!" she called. 

            "Uh… I'm not Falkner," said Morty, slowly sitting up and placing his hand lightly over his forehead. He raised his other arm, and pointed into the forest. "Falkner went over that way." 

            Yui sighed, and fell over backwards. "I know that!" she said. "Hurry, get up! We have to go after him!"

            "You go," Morty said tiredly. "I'm too tired…" 

            "But…" Yui stammered, staring out into the dark forest; there was no sign of Falkner anywhere. "I can't go out there myself! I can't even see him!!" 

            "Stay here, then," he replied. "Go back to sleep. I'm sure he'll be back in the morning." 

            Morty curled back up in his sleeping bag, and Yui crawled back into hers. She kept looking out into the forest, worried for both of her friends. "Falkner might," she said silently to herself, "but I'm not sure about Teal…" 

             A cold droplet of water fell from the sky, landing on Teal's forehead and running down between her eyes. She looked up just in time to see another drop land on the tip of her nose

            "Oh… Well, isn't this lovely," she said to herself, watching as more raindrops started falling steadily. "And there's no shelter in sight… What have I gone and gotten myself into?" 

            Nearly panicking, Teal looked around for any sign of shelter, or anything that would keep her dry until this sudden storm let up. There was nothing… only rows and rows of trees in every direction she looked. Sighing, she chose the biggest, leafiest tree she could see and took shelter under its branches. The rain was falling heavily now, and a few drops still found their way through the branches and onto her head, but at least it was better that standing in the open and taking the rainstorm full-force. 

            "If I had stayed at the campsite, I would have at least had some shelter," she said silently to herself. "There was a small cave near there… it would have been cramped, but at least it would be better than this."

            Teal slid to a sitting position, not caring that her feet were out in the open and her shoes were being soaked by the rain. "What was I thinking?" she asked herself. "I shouldn't have just left them like that… even if I am really confused right now." She looked up to the sky; the raindrops blurred everything out, though. She could barely even see the stars, their faint glow through the seemingly endless downpour of rain was their only sign that they were still up there. 

            "I could have asked them for help," she continued, speaking out loud as if there was actually someone there to listen. "I could have solved this problem and gone on with my life… but I had to run away. And now… I'll probably never see Falkner or my friends again…"        

            "Oh, come on… You didn't think we'd leave here without you, did you?" A hand touched her shoulder from behind and, half-startled from the voice and half from the sudden touch, she spun around. Falkner stood there, hair dripping wet, with a sympathetic smile on his face. "You know, Teal… You're crazier than I thought you were." 

            Her eyes went wide, and she backed up a bit. "Oh, so I'm crazy now!" she snapped. 

            Falkner jolted, "No, that's not what I meant!" he said. "I guess I shouldn't be joking around at a time like this…" 

            "A time like what?" Teal asked.  

            "Teal… I was really worried when I woke up and saw that you were gone," Falkner said softly. "I was really scared… I thought you had left because of me, and it really hurt me."             

            "So it hurt you, and that's all that's important, right? If you cared how I felt, you would have just left me alone!" she retaliated, turning away from him. "You're too busy thinking about yourself to care about my feelings!"

            "Listen, I wouldn't have come out here if I didn't care about how you feel!" His voice was getting louder now… he didn't know how to explain himself to her, especially when she was in this condition. "You're crazy if you think I don't care about you!" 

            "Then you'd be the first one," Teal said, a sorrowful tone overcoming her voice. "Nobody's ever cared about me before… I've been through too much to even know what it feels like to be cared about. You can't possibly know how I feel." 

            Falkner scowled. "I may not know exactly how you feel," he said, "but I do know what it feels like to feel pain! I've had to deal with a lot of bad times in my life… probably a lot more than you!"

            "Prove it!" Teal snapped, spinning to face him. "If you think you're so much worse off than me, then prove it!" 

            "Fine," Falkner said as calmly as he could. He looked up at her, the soaking wet clump of hair still carefully placed over his right eye. "I… have no family," he started. "My father died when I was a young child. And my mother died when I was thirteen. Only about four years ago. I had no siblings and no contact with my grandparents. I had an aunt, but she moved away somewhere when I took the Violet City gym. I haven't seen her since then." 

            He studied her face; she was looking sadder with every word he spoke, and there were already tears on her face. The rain was washing away his own tears, as he was facing into the wind. "And if that's not enough for you," he said lowly, "take a look at this." 

            Slowly, with one swift hand motion, he pulled away the excess hair that hung over his face, tucking it behind his ear. Teal expected to see a crystal blue eye, identical to the other one, staring back at her. Instead, what she saw made her eyes go wide and her pupils narrow… His right eye was made entirely of glass, and all she could see in the center was a circle of colorless gray. 

            "This has caused me more pain in a short amount of time than most people have experienced in their entire lives," Falkner growled. "It was a Beedrill belonging to a young trainer that took away half of my eyesight. Since then, I could consider myself the 'freak' gym leader of Johto. Most of my friends abandoned me, because they were scared of how I looked. And I could never hold a decent relationship, because all the girls were scared of me."

            He paused for a second, letting his words sink in. After a few long moments, he continued, "The one girl that wasn't afraid of me… we had a disagreement. And since then, we've become worst enemies. Just think about that, and then see if you can tell me that your life sucks more than mine." 

            There was a long tense pause. Teal stared forward at Falkner, and he looked down at the ground. Suddenly, Teal stepped forward and took Falkner into her arms, hugging him tightly. She hid her face in his shoulder, crying as she spoke. 

            "Falkner… I'm so sorry…If I had known…"

            "It's okay… Like you said, you didn't know," he whispered. 

            "I'm still really sorry," Teal cried, looking up at him. "I… I understand completely if you hate me now…" 

            "Teal," Falkner said, holding her in place by her shoulders. "If I hated you, I wouldn't have bothered to tell you all of that. I would have just walked away and forgotten about you."

            "But you didn't have to tell me everything," Teal sobbed. "Now I feel even worse about trying to run away from you like that…" 

            "There was a point behind it," he said. "I've been through so much… But I'm still trying to go on with my life." He leaned in closer, as if that would help to convince her, "What I'm trying to say is that no matter how much pain you have in your life, it's always worth it to take the pain and keep going. There's no reason to give up if one or two bad things happen."

            "I… I guess you're right," she said, letting her shoulders relax. "Thank you, Falkner… But why would you be so worried about me? Why not just let me leave?" 

            "Because…" Falkner swallowed hard, and swung his hair around so that it hung over his right eye again, "I care about you a lot, Teal. And I couldn't just let you walk away like that… Not when you needed me the most." 

            Teal smiled, reaching over and placing her hand on his right cheek. "You don't need to hide this," she said, pulling his hair back behind his ear again. "I'm not afraid. I'd never reject someone because of something like this." 

            Falkner blushed, and shut his eyes (well, his one eye) as Teal leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "Now come on," she said. "Let's get back to the campsite. I don't know about you, but I'm freezing cold…" 

            "I agree," he said, taking her by the hand. 

            ~*~*~

            "I'm so glad you're okay!" Yui cried, giving her friend a hug. "I thought you weren't going to come back!" 

            "I thought the same thing," Teal said. "But I guess that was a pretty stupid decision to make…" 

            "Don't worry about it. You weren't sure what else to do," Falkner said, putting his arm around her shoulders. She smiled, and leaned her head on his shoulder, sighing happily. 

            "But everything's all worked out now, right?" she said. 

            "Right," Falkner replied. "At least, that's how it seems…" 

            At this moment, they were back on the road to Kitty City. Everyone was still a little tired from all the excitement the night before, so they were progressing a little slower than usual. 

            "I wish we could have slept in a little bit longer," Morty said, yawning loudly. 

            "Me too," said Yui. "But we're not going to get to the next city by lying around in a forest all day."

            "I guess so… but it's not like the city's going to get up and walk away if we don't get there today." 

            Yui giggled. "You're right. Tonight we'll stop early and get some extra sleep… no matter how far we are from Kitty City." 

            Morty was about to reply, when a high-pitched tone sounded off out of nowhere. Yui jumped, looking around for where it was coming from; she stopped when she saw Falkner pull a small cloudy-blue pocket phone out of his shirt pocket. 

            "Hey, I didn't know you had a cell phone!" Yui said. "Who's calling?" 

            Falkner took a look at the name on display, and sighed. "I'll be right back," he said, wandering off to the side and turning the phone on. He talked for a short time, and then came back. 

            "Well, who was it?" Yui asked. 

            He sighed again. "It was Matt, the lead trainee from my gym," he said. "His Pokemon just got into a tough match, and they were severely hurt. They'll be in the Pokemon Center for at least two weeks, and none of my other trainees have the capability of running the gym. I'm afraid I'll have to go back for a while."

            Teal nearly fell over in shock. "You can't go back now!" she cried. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but… when do you have to go?" 

            "As soon as I can," he said, looking down to avoid eye contact. "I really don't want to leave now, but someone has to defend the gym…" 

            "I… I know," she sighed. 

            Falkner looked up, smiling weakly at Yui and Morty. "Can Teal and I be alone for a second?" he asked. 

            "Sure," Yui said. "Bye, Falkner. Hope to see you back soon!" 

            "Yeah, see you…" Morty said, taking Yui's hand as they kept going down the path. Teal just stood there, looking down at the ground. 

            "Teal… I'm really sorry," he said. "I hope you understand…" 

            "I do," she said. "I'll be fine… You just have to promise to come back as soon as you can."

            "I will," he told her. "I promise."

            Teal looked up and smiled brightly at him. "Thank you," she said, leaning up and giving him a quick kiss. "I'll miss you…"

            "I'll miss you too," he said. "And I'll try to call you on your PokeGear." 

            "You'd better," Teal laughed. "I don't want to lose contact with you completely!"

            Falkner laughed too. "That would never happen," he told her. "I don't break contact with the people I care about." 

            A light blush came to Teal's cheeks, and she smiled slightly, watching him send out his Pidgeot. He climbed up onto its back, looking down at her the whole time. "I'll give you a call when I'm on my way back," he said. 

            "Okay," Teal said quietly. Pidgeot flapped its wings, and they took off slowly, heading back in the direction that the group had come from. Teal jogged after them for a few seconds, waving. "Bye, Falkner!" she called. Then she stopped, watching them disappear into the sky, and whispered, "I love you…"  

            Once Pidgeot was completely out of sight, Teal turned and sighed again, wiping away a few tears. Then, beaming brightly, she took a deep breath and ran forward along the path, eager to catch up with the rest of her group. 

            ~To Be Continued…~

            **A/N:** Whee… Finally finished! ^^ This chapter took way too long to write… I'm not really all that satisfied with it, either. But I hope you like it, and I'll have Chapter 13 up as soon as I can! [Kittie: Which had better be soon… -_-] Yeah, yeah. *pushes her out of the room* Kittie is a Pokemon that I made up, and she'll be making an appearance in the next chapter, so she's a little eager for me to get it finished.. [*pokes her head in* A little?] *shuts the door* Okay, more than a little. But like I said, it'll be up as soon as I can get it done. So for now, see you later! ^^ 


	13. Behold the Power of Kittie!

**_Yui's Journey – The Tokko Adventures_****__**

****

**_Chapter 13 – Behold, the Power of Kittie!_**

****

**** Morty wasn't sure why both of the girls had suddenly run ahead on the path, squealing like rabid fan-girls or something along those lines. At least… he wasn't sure until he looked ahead on the path to see what they were screaming about. And as soon as he saw the little white fuzz-ball curled up in the middle of the walkway, he got a bad feeling in his chest. 

                "It's… So… KAWAII!" he heard the girls scream in unison. This just made him feel worse about going on ahead… Last time they'd found something "kawaii", he'd ended up fighting against a demonic little kitten with fire powers. 

                "Morty! Morty! Come see this!!" Yui squeaked. "It's too cute! Even you'll love it!!" 

                He sighed, allowing her to lead him forward. Teal was already kneeled down, petting the little white thing that was apparently sleeping. Getting a closer look, he saw that it was a tiny white kitten with a soft pink heart-shape on its forehead. His eyes widened, and he immediately stopped walking. 

                "Oh, no," he sighed, "I'm not getting any closer to that thing. That's a Kittie." 

                "Of course it's a kitty," Teal laughed. 

                "No… Its name is Kittie. Yui, look it up on your Dex." 

                Yui did as she was told, pulling her PokeDex out of her bag and pointing the identifier at the kitten. The 'ping' was heard, and the Dex began talking: "Kittie, the Friendship Pokemon. This very rare and very cute Pokemon is found in few areas. It will make instant friends with anyone who is lucky enough to get one."

                "It sounds so sweet and cute!" Yui said. "I'm definitely capturing it!" 

                "Great," Morty said, his voice caked with sarcasm. "I'm so happy that we'll have one of _those_ traveling with us." 

                "What's so wrong with it?" Teal asked. "It's adorable, and it sounds really nice!" 

                "It's a nice Pokemon," he said, "but if this one is anything like the last one that I saw, you might not think it's so nice. Kitties are incredibly clingy."

                "But clingy is a good thing!" Yui giggled, grabbing his arm. 

                "Only if it's someone, or some_thing, that doesn't annoy me," Morty retorted. _

                "Point taken," Yui laughed, un-attaching herself from his side. "But I'm still capturing the Kittie. I promise this one won't be as bad as that last one you ran into." 

                _"If only she knew the story,"_ Morty thought to himself, laughing silently. _"But I don't think I'll bring that up… not quite yet."  _

                "Hey, it's waking up!" Teal said. All three trainers watched intently as the kitten stirred and blinked awake, though Morty still kept his distance. The Kittie opened her crystalline blue eyes, and looked around at the strange new people. 

                She looked up at Teal first, then at Yui, paying hardly any attention to the two of them. Her eyes darted down the path, and she looked up at Morty, smiling curiously. 

                "Don't you start looking at me like that," Morty warned as Kittie stood up, beaming and walking toward him. She broke into a run, jumping up and clinging to the front of Morty's shirt with her claws. "OW!! Get off!" 

                "Kittie!" Yui exclaimed, pulling her off of Morty's chest. "No using the claws on Morty. Be a good little Kittie." She turned Kittie on her back and held her like a baby, looking into her blue eyes. "You remind me of the little kitty toy that Uncle Drake gave me when I was little," she cooed. "You even have the same color eyes!"

                "Kii?" Kittie questioned, reciprocating Yui's intent gaze. Deciding that having a staring contest with this girl wasn't in her best interests, she wiggled out of Yui's motherly hold and jumped back to Morty, attempting to climb up his pant leg. 

                "Get… Off… My… Leg!!" Morty growled, trying lightly to shake her off. Kittie, hardly fazed, just climbed right up Morty's leg, back onto his shirt, and right up onto his shoulder. "Go away!" Morty whined, turning away from her while she tried to lick his cheek. 

                "Well, I think Kittie has chosen its owner," Teal laughed. 

                "Aww… I want it," Yui pouted. 

                "Well, I _don't_!" Morty said, picking up the Kittie and handing it to Yui. "You keep it." 

                "Kittie kii!!" it shrieked, struggling against Yui's hold again. She stared down sadly at the Pokemon in her hands, and looked back up at Morty. 

                "Morty… She really likes you," she sighed, holding the Kittie close. "If you'd just give her a chance…"

                "I'm not interested," Morty said, shutting his eyes and walking past Yui and Teal. Kittie and Yui took on a sad, disappointed look, and Teal rolled her eyes in disgust. 

                "I'm sorry, Kittie," Yui said, placing Kittie on the ground, "I guess you'll just have to… try again." 

                "Kittie… Kittie kii…" it said sadly, turning and wandering off into the forest with its head hung low. Yui sighed, and followed Teal, who had already started catching up to Morty. 

                "That was _cold_," Teal huffed, crossing her arms. "How could you be so self-centered, Morty?"        

                "I told you guys, I don't like Kitties," he reminded them. "I don't like any cats very much."

                "Well, still, you could have been a lot nicer to it!" Teal continued. "Now it's sad, and it's all your fault!" 

                "It's not my fault! What did you expect me to do, keep it and let it torment me forever?" 

                "No, but you could have asked it politely to leave instead of brushing it off like that!"

                "Like it would've listened!"

                "How do you know it wouldn't?" 

                "GUYS!!" Yui jumped in between them, pushing them a few feet apart. "Stop arguing! It's going to do us no good, and it won't do any good for Kittie either! You" she turned to Morty, "were wrong to treat Kittie like that. And you" to Teal now, "should not be hassling Morty because of it. You should respect that he doesn't like that Pokemon. But you" and back to Morty again, "still should have at least been nicer. Problem solved; no more reasons to fight. Now, can we shut up and keep walking?" 

                Both trainers blinked, staring back at Yui with completely blank expressions. She stood between the two of them, hands placed on her hips, and she looked annoyed and angry. Neither of them had ever seen her react to something so hastily. 

                "Sure, we'll stop," Teal said, sighing. "Sorry, you guys."            

                "Yeah, me too," Morty agreed, shrugging his shoulders. 

                "Okay," Yui said, continuing her walk down the pathway. "Sorry I burst out like that… I just felt really sorry for that poor Kittie! I wish I could have kept it…"

                "You really like cats, don't you?" asked Teal, walking beside Yui. 

                "I love them," she sighed. "I guess it's because of my second birthday… My Uncle Drake bought me a small white plush kitty, and I fell in love with it right away. I'd take it everywhere with me, even f I knew it'd get dirty… I even dressed it up sometimes! It was the best present I've ever received in my life." 

                "I remember you talking to that Kittie about some little kitty toy," Morty said. "Did they really look that alike?"

                "Besides the fact that the Pokemon Kittie has a little heart on its forehead, they look exactly alike," she answered, looking back on the path behind her to see if the Pokemon had wandered out of hiding again. "I hope we can find another one…"

                ~*~*~

                "Good night, guys!" Yui said, pulling the top half of her sleeping bag over her shoulders and lying on her back, watching the sky turn dark. Morty and Teal returned her call and curled up in their own sleeping bags, tired out from all the walking. They let themselves drift off, but Yui forced herself to keep her eyes open for a few more minutes. There was something important she needed to see. 

                Soon, the sky was completely dark; there were no stars, so only the light of the moon reflected down into the clearing where the group had stopped to rest.  Yui rested her hands behind her back, holding herself up a bit so she could get a better look at the sky. After just a few minutes of waiting, a single star began to shine in the middle of the dark abyss; the first star of the night. 

                "Perfect," she said, sitting up and pulling her covers around her. She shut her eyes, still picturing the star in her mind. "I wish Kittie would come back," she whispered. "Please, Kittie… Even if I can't capture you, I at least want to see you again before I leave." With a sigh, Yui lay back down, turning over onto her side and shutting her eyes. 

                Not even two seconds later, the star twinkled brightly as thousands of other stars lit up around it. A bush rustled near Morty's left side and Kittie jumped out, shaking a couple of leaves off of her fur. The familiar scent of the people she'd seen earlier filled the air around her, making her glance around the clearing curiously. 

                **_(*Remember when we dubbed over the Pokemon speech in Chapter 2? Well, here we go again ^_^) _**

                 "Heehee… I smell him! The boy who was mean to me!" An evil grin crossed the Pokemon's otherwise-cute face, and she skipped over to the nearest sleeping bag, jumping up onto Morty's chest lightly enough for him not to feel it. She sniffed him, batting lightly at his face to make sure he was asleep. 

                "Sound asleep, just like a little baby," Kittie said to herself, hopping over to his pillow. His hair fell loosely around his headband, covering his eyes slightly. "Hmm… This thing here seems pretty important… looks warm and cuddly, too!" 

                Using her paws, but not releasing her claws, she pulled the headband over his hair and right off his forehead. She used her nose to flick it up in the air; then she jumped up and caught it around her neck. "It's so warm," she mused, poking at his forehead while being careful of the cut near the bridge of his nose. "Wonder if he's sick or something… Hey, what's this?" 

                Kittie curiously pulled back a few strands of Morty's hair, revealing a red spot in the center of his forehead. It was exactly parallel to his nose, and it was about the size of a dime. It wasn't circular, but an irregular oval shape, and a small closed slit cut horizontally through the center of it. "Looks like a healing wound," she pondered. "Or maybe a closed eye…" She blinked twice, and backed up a few steps. "That's… kind of scary…" Without another thought, Kittie turned and ran back into the forest, taking Morty's headband with her and leaving the spot on his forehead completely exposed. 

                ~*~*~

                When Morty woke up that morning, something didn't feel right. He could tell from the brightness of the sun and the dryness of the air that it was an exceptionally warm day… But he felt unusually cold. Shivering, he sat up, brushing his bangs out of the way of his face. 

                …And noticing that his headband was missing at that very second. 

                "Oh, no," he said, covering his forehead with his hand and looking around his sleeping bag. "Where is it? It couldn't have fallen off…" 

                "Are you okay?" Yui asked, sitting up in her own sleeping bag and shaking the covers off as she crawled across the ground to him. "What are you looking for?" 

                "Nothing!" Morty said quickly, pulling his bangs back over his forehead. "I just… lost my headband somehow, that's all." 

                Yui gave a confused look. "How? It's too tight to have fallen off." She sat next to him on his sleeping bag, peeking under the folds of the material. "It doesn't seem to be here at all. Are you sure you didn't take it off?" 

                "I _never_ take my headband off," he retorted. 

                "You guys are too loud," Teal groaned, staring at them from under her blankets. "How's anyone supposed to get any sleep?" 

                "Sorry," Morty sighed. "I just can't find my headband…" 

                "No problem. We'll get you a new one in Kitty City," the blue-haired girl offered, rolling over onto her back. "If it means getting some extra sleep before we go, I'll even pay for it myself."

                "I suppose that works," he said. "But that still leaves me to wonder where the old one went." 

                As the two of them conversed, Yui looked around the forest, seeing if maybe his headband had decided to get up and walk away somewhere. The first thing that caught her eye wasn't what she was looking for… But it was definitely something she wanted to see. She all of a sudden jumped up, and ran over to the bush, staring at a fuzzy white tail peeking out from among the leaves. 

                "Guys… Look! I think it's Kittie!" she said happily, trying not to make too much sound in case it was sleeping. 

                "Really?" Teal stood, walking over to Yui and inspecting the tail. "It looks like it…" 

                Morty forged a smile, and stayed right where he was. He wasn't going to object to Yui capturing the Kittie if she wanted to… But he wanted to spend as little time around it as possible. He planned to sit right in that spot the whole time, and wait for the annoyingly cute little thing to be hidden away in a Pokeball. 

                …Until Yui picked it up out of the bush. And he saw what was around its neck. 

                "Hey!" Yui exclaimed, causing the Kittie to stir slightly. "Look, Morty, I found your headband!" 

                "I see that," he said dryly. "And you'd better take my headband away from that… THING, before I have to do it myself." 

                "Sure!" she said, reaching out to remove the blue band. But just as she was about to pull it off, Kittie bit into the fabric with her front teeth and jumped away from Yui, smiling as she readjusted it around her neck. "Hey! My friend wants his headband back now, okay?" 

                Kittie smiled half-evilly, and shook her head. She meowed once, and took off past the group, running a full circle around Morty before finally disappearing into the trees.

                "Get back here!" Morty shouted, scrambling up and chasing it. Teal and Yui followed him, and soon all three of them were darting in between trees, trying to catch up with the Kittie. 

                "Morty, we're going off course!" Yui called up ahead. "We're going in the opposite direction of Kitty City!" 

                "You can stay back here if you want," he said. "I'll make it back to you guys once I catch this cat." 

                "Are you crazy? There's no way we're leaving you alone in this forest," Teal responded. 

                "Besides, I still want the Kittie!" Yui kept running, trying to catch up to Morty. 

                The blonde boy smiled; Kittie had stopped in front of a tall bush, looking left and right as if trying to decide which direction to go. "I've got you now!" he cried triumphantly, leaping forward with his arms out and ready to grab Kittie. At the last moment, she darted to the side… And Morty went flying through the bush. All that the girls heard was a loud splash from the other side. 

                "Are you… okay?" Yui asked, peeking over the bush. Morty was sitting in a small river, crossing his arms in annoyance. He was completely soaked; his wet bangs hung down in front of his face, still covering his forehead. 

                "I'm fine," he said darkly, standing up and shaking himself off. For a split second, his hair flew to the side, revealing the spot on his forehead… But Yui and Teal didn't notice. Yui was busy picking up Kittie and scolding her… and Teal was just standing there laughing at him. "Teal… this is NOT funny…" 

                "That was very mean, Kittie," Yui said, removing the headband and flicking it at Morty. "You can't just go around stealing other people's things like that." Kittie smiled a little bit, but drooped when she saw Yui frowning at her. She gave a look that said 'I'm sorry', and offered a meow of apology. 

                "Aww… It's okay," she said. "I forgive you." 

                "Kii!!!" Kittie smiled widely, rubbing her head up against Yui's cheek. She laughed, hugging it even tighter than she had before. 

                "So Kittie… What do you say to joining us?" she asked. "You can bug Morty anytime you want…" 

                "Hey!" he puffed, patting his headband as if to make sure it was really back with him. "Do I get a say in that little deal?" 

                "Most likely not," Teal laughed, as Yui and Kittie gave Morty identical evil glares. 

                He let his head droop. "Great…" he was about to continue, but he was silenced when Yui lifted up his face and kissed his cheek. 

                "Don't sweat it. You know we both love you," she laughed, as Kittie climbed up onto her shoulder. 

                "You, I can understand… but THAT?" 

                "Morty… Be nice." she lightly smacked his shoulder, and turned back to Kittie. "Ready?" 

                "Kittie!!" it said, jumping down onto the ground. Yui brought out a PokeBall, and tossed it down with a flick of her wrist; it opened, and enclosed Kittie inside with a bright neon flash. 

                "Yay!" she picked up her PokeBall and started jumping around, "I got it! I got it! My Kittie!" 

                "Now we both have a cute kitty Pokemon," Teal said. "We need to find another different kind for Morty." 

                He puffed again, starting to walk back in the direction they'd come. "I have no interest in owning a 'cute kitty', thank you very much." 

                The girls laughed, walking alongside him. They kept saying things like "Oh come on, who doesn't want a cute kitty?" and "There's always Meowth, or Skitty!" He sighed, trying to ignore their comments… unfortunately, when you have a hyper fangirl on either side of you, both squealing about all these 'kawaii kittens', it's kind of hard to block them out. 

                This was going to be a long walk to Kitty City. 

                ~To Be Continued…~

                Oy vey… That chapter took me way too long @_@ Sorry about this, everyone… With schoolwork and few other things to work on, it's really hard to keep up with a chaptered fanfic… But don't worry, I'm not giving up! ^^ Chapters might not get done in short periods of time… but they will get done. And that's a promise I'm making to all you loving readers and fans! ^^ Thank you all for sticking with me, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the rest!


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